US UAV and UCAV Technology

U.S. Army Buys Thousands Of Drones, UAS Momentum Picks Up

The U.S. Army within a few days in mid-March ordered thousands of reconnaissance drones as part of the service’s push to quickly field large numbers of relatively affordable systems for its formations.

On March 20, the Army announced two contracts to AeroVironment for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), both expected to be fully fielded within months. First is a $117 million order for AV’s P550 Long Range Reconnaissance systems, Group 2 UAS that will provide battalion commanders with their own reconnaissance and target acquisition capabilities.

The order came through the Army’s new UAS Marketplace Basic Ordering Agreement—a new portal for the military to quickly order cleared systems. This order is expected to be completed in July.
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Just a simple remark: if you are gonna manually fly something that will essentially climb vertically most of the time, you would better offset your artificial horizon indicator to your ideal coasting slope angle to prevent the annoying large amplitude change in the display... For example, if that angle is 90 degree, your display is stable from 45 to 135 with rotation occurring only during pullup and push down way out the range of value in stabilized flight.
 

AV to Deliver ISR Services to U.S. Navy with JUMP 20-X​

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/04/av-to-deliver-isr-services-to-u-s-navy-with-jump-20-x/
AV’s JUMP 20-X Group 3 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) will equip the Navy with expanded ISR capabilities tailored to support diverse land and maritime missions. The platform enables multi-domain missions with fully autonomous, hands-free operation and more than 13 hours of flight time, a 115-mile (185 km) range, and 30 pounds of payload capacity.
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Forest Green said:
How America’s Shahed-136 Kamikaze Drone Clone Suddenly Became An “Indispensable” Weapon Of War
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How many 'LUCAS' drones or other similar US systems (made by other OEMs also producing Shahed clones) were used in Epic Fury? How were they launched and what targets did they actually strike? If they were laucnhed from a single LCS how many were stored in it and how was the ship replenished? How badly degraded the US and Israeli munitions stockpiles have to be if Epic Fury was impossible to do without Lucas?
 
bring_it_on said:
How many 'LUCAS' drones or other similar US systems (made by other OEMs also producing Shahed clones) were used in Epic Fury? How were they launched and what targets did they actually strike? If they were laucnhed from a single LCS how many were stored in it and how was the ship replenished? How badly degraded the US and Israeli munitions stockpiles have to be if Epic Fury was impossible to do without Lucas?
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https://defensescoop.com/2026/04/07...ack-drones-iran-epic-fury-adm-cooper-centcom/

AFCENT to Spend up to $270 Million on Ultra-Long Range ISR Drones​

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/afcent-contract-ultra-long-range-solar-powered-isr-drones/
 
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https://armysbir.army.mil/topics/modular-payloads-for-uas/
Somewhat related.
“The appetite of the senior leaders is, basically, we don’t want to follow the old acquisition process and wait another year, two years or three years to start fielding this out to units, because that’s what FTUAS was under, the kind of old acquisition process. So they just canceled the program,” Ryan said.
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https://www.aviationtoday.com/2025/...rigade-uas-in-fy-26-to-replace-shadow-drones/
The timeline does seem very aggresive.
 
Hey folks, Sikorsky and Robinson Unmanned have landed a $15.5 million U.S. Marine Corps contract to deliver the R66 TURBINETRUCK, an autonomous medium‑lift logistics helicopter. Built on the tough Robinson R66 airframe and powered by Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ autonomy system, it’s designed for fast, uncrewed resupply in contested areas. This “middleweight” workhorse bridges a key logistics gap, hauling 1,300–2,500 lbs over 100 nautical miles and operating from remote, rugged locations.
Source / Link:
https://news.lockheedmartin.com/202...tract-for-Autonomous-Aerial-Logistics-ProgramEdit:
The U.S. Marine Corps is testing two autonomous cargo helicopters based on the Robinson R66 and Bell 505 to support resupply missions in contested environments.
Both designs integrate advanced autonomy systems to deliver 1,300–2,500 pounds over long ranges without exposing crews to risk.
The program aims to fill a “middleweight” logistics gap for future Indo‑Pacific operations and could expand into ISR, EW, and other mission roles. Another competitor for MARV-EL was the SeaOnyx from Leidos.
Source / Link:
https://www.twz.com/air/light-uncre...binson-r66-and-bell-505-compete-usmc-contract
 
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150 CCAs is a little disappointing, though I would guess that number is more to prove out the concept and develop tactics and doctrine. Industry could probably produce more than that year over year, at least if you were willing to accept more than one model (three type classified YFQ models currently). And unmanned assets could be scaled very rapidly.
 
Josh_TN said:
150 CCAs is a little disappointing, though I would guess that number is more to prove out the concept and develop tactics and doctrine. Industry could probably produce more than that year over year, at least if you were willing to accept more than one model (three type classified YFQ models currently). And unmanned assets could be scaled very rapidly.
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I am sure they will buy more, a lot more, once the systems actually prove they work and can successfully integrate with the intended platforms. Smart not to buy hundreds or thousands of these before establishing their utility and capability.
 

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