DIU names five winners from inaugural Project G.I. prize challenge

The Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit has tapped five companies to develop first-person-view drones and components under its inaugural Project G.I. prize challenge, aiming to equip small military teams with new kinetic capabilities in contested environments.

Marine Corps evaluators “selected FPV platforms from Auterion, ModalAI, Neros and Nokturnal -- as well as one component from Kraken Kinetics -- to move from the FPV tactical kinetic effects Phase of Project G.I.,” DIU said.

From here, the solutions will undergo a cybersecurity review and a verification process to deem them compliant with legislation requiring a supply chain decoupled from both Chinese parts and capital. From there, they’ll be added to DIU’s Blue UAS List and Blue UAS Framework -- lists of drones and components pre-approved for military use.

That, DIU said, will “double the amount of FPV’s available for purchase and use in the Department of War from two to four, provide capabilities like fiber optics not currently available, and deliver improved software capabilities.”

They’ll also go through a series of three 60-day sprints over the next six months to develop additional capabilities and improvements based on feedback from a designated Marine unit, the Pentagon innovation agency said.

“Testing will occur in representative electronic warfare environments, in a variety of geographic locations, and will integrate companies with end users directly to remove bureaucracy from the feedback process,” DIU added.

The announcement comes just over three months after DIU first launched Project G.I. -- its prize challenge aimed at identifying “ready now” uncrewed systems supporting enhanced mission effectiveness for small military cells in contested operational environments.