DIU updates drone pre-screening initiative, names initial third-party evaluators

By Theresa Maher / July 18, 2025 at 10:32 AM
The Pentagon's innovation arm shared updates Wednesday on its efforts to accelerate and scale compliance evaluations for U.S.-made uncrewed aerial systems and components, in line with top-level directives released in the past month to establish domestic drone dominance. The Defense Innovation Unit was already working to overhaul its program to pre-approve dual-use drones and components for military use -- called the “Blue List” -- when President Trump hit the organization with a 90-day deadline in June to make sure the...

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