Department of Defense
Every UASFeed story on Department of Defense — across defense, counter-UAS, industry, commercial, policy, and tech, newest first.
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Counter-UAS
DroneShield's Q3 Software Leap Lands as Pentagon Counter-Drone Spending Pipeline Swells
DroneShield sharpened its RF detection and tracking software on July 6 just as the Pentagon handed AeroVironment a potential $500 million counter-drone contract, underscoring a red-hot C-UAS market racing to outpace cheaper, faster drone threats.
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Policy & Regulation
FAA's Critical-Infrastructure Drone-Restriction Rule Closes Its Public Comment Window
The FAA's first formal process letting critical-infrastructure operators petition for drone flight restrictions closed for public comment this week, setting up two new tiers of no-fly zones covering 16 sectors from energy to defense plants.
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Defense & Combat
Hegseth Creates Pentagon 'Drone Czar' Office, Stripping Services of Unmanned Systems Authority
A memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth creates a new joint office with milestone authority over nearly all Pentagon drone programs, pulling buying power away from the individual armed services.
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Defense & Combat
DoD UAS Group Classifications Explained: Group 1 Through Group 5
A reference guide to the Pentagon's five-group UAS classification system: weight, altitude, and speed thresholds from JP 3-30, its 2008 origins, real-world edge cases, and why the group a drone falls into shapes approval authority and training rules.
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Defense & Combat
Ukraine's Magura Naval Drone Sinks a Target Ship in the Philippines — Its First Indo-Pacific Combat Debut
U.S. Green Berets used a Ukrainian-built Magura drone boat to sink a target vessel during Balikatan 2026, marking the first Indo-Pacific deployment of battle-tested Ukrainian naval-drone technology.
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Industry & Contracts
A Federal DJI Ban Just Cost One Oregon Police Department $18,000 a Drone — the Skydio Swap, Line by Line
Redmond, Oregon approved a $410,762, five-year financed Axon contract for six Skydio drones to replace its DJI fleet — a 3.5x price jump driven by the federal NDAA ban, not operational need.
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Counter-UAS
AeroVironment Wins $500M Army Deal to Buy Commercial Counter-Drone Tech at Scale
The Army has handed AeroVironment a $500M, three-year ordering vehicle to buy layered commercial counter-UAS gear against Group 1-3 drones — a shift from bespoke buys toward a standing anti-drone pipeline.
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Policy & Regulation
Drones as Plumbing: The House's FY27 NDAA Bets on Doctrine, Ranges, and a Common OS
The House's FY27 NDAA (H.R. 8800) pivots from buying more drones to building the scaffolding to run them — a common sUAS operating system, dedicated training corridors, formal autonomy doctrine, and new rules for AI that influences the use of force.
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Policy & Regulation
Hegseth Names a Pentagon 'Drone Czar': New DRPM-UxS to Absorb Almost Every Unmanned Program
A June 29 Hegseth memo creates a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems reporting to Deputy Secretary Feinberg, pulling tens of billions in Group 1-3 drones, ground robots and surface vessels under one office — with the Navy's MUSV the notable carve-out.
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Industry & Contracts
AeroVironment's Q4 Blowout: A $642M Quarter, a $1.2B Backlog, and the 'Drone Supercycle' Goes Mainstream
AeroVironment crushed estimates with a record $641.6M fiscal Q4, doubled annual revenue to nearly $2B, and grew funded backlog to $1.2B — sending shares up ~19% and turning 'drone supercycle' talk into public-market fact.
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Industry & Contracts
The Drone-Stock Supercycle: Pentagon Weighs Equity Stakes as DAWG Budget Balloons to $54.6B
U.S. drone stocks extended a sharp run in late June 2026 on reports the Pentagon is weighing equity stakes in domestic makers — the backdrop being a $54.6B FY27 request for the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, up from a $225M base.
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Policy & Regulation
The Drone Lobby Storms Capitol Hill: Adversarial-UAS Bans, Counter-UAS Authority, and a $70B FY27 Bet
At AUVSI's June 24 Hill Day, 100+ industry leaders ran 90+ meetings to push procurement bans on adversarial-nation drones, more DHS counter-UAS grants, and permanent Blue/Green UAS pathways — as core DoD C-UAS authority nears its Dec. 31 sunset and FY27 steers $70B+ to drone dominance.
