The Department of War opened Phase 3 of the Drone Dominance Program on Monday, September 28, with $450 million for roughly 60,000 attack drones and an option to buy up to 40,000 more. Companies compete in two mission sets: Deep Strike, at stand-off ranges out to about 12 miles (20 kilometers), and Close Quarter Battle. Each company that reaches Gauntlet III must first deliver a 400-drone production order in about two months.

The announcement lists Deep Strike drones at $5,000 each, not counting weaponization, and Close Quarter Battle drones at $3,000. At those prices, 60,000 drones cost at most $300 million.

The Listed Prices Cover At Most $300 Million Of The $450 Million

At the announced prices, 60,000 drones cost between $180 million (all Close Quarter Battle) and $300 million (all Deep Strike), or $240 million split evenly. The announcement puts $450 million behind them and does not say what covers the difference. Deep Strike’s price excludes weaponization.

The wording reads a second way. The announcement splits the money evenly across the two mission sets without saying whether it means dollars or drones. Split by dollars, $225 million buys 45,000 Deep Strike drones at $5,000 and 75,000 Close Quarter Battle drones at $3,000, or 120,000 in all, twice the stated count.

Payloads may explain part of the gap. Gauntlet II companies were each paired with one or more lethality providers, and Swarm Defense, fifth in Deep Strike, received a prototype order valued at a minimum of $25 million for 4,000 Kiwi drones plus munitions and control software, about $6,250 a drone at the floor. Even at that rate for every drone, 60,000 come to $375 million, $75 million under the $450 million.

Deep Strike Rises To $5,000 And 40,000 Drones Are Priced By Vendors

Deep Strike drones rise to $5,000 from $4,500, excluding weaponization, to pay for better compute, communications and sensing, the program says. Close Quarter Battle falls to $3,000 from $3,500. The program will also weigh offers for up to 40,000 more drones at company-set prices, for a total of 100,000.

The program says the 40,000-drone option exists to buy more drones and “better understand the pricing in the marketplace.”

The December 2025 plan was different. Washington Technology reported that the department’s request for information laid out Phase 3 as 100,000 drones at $3,000 each and Phase 4 as 150,000 at $2,300, with payment only for delivered drones. That was before Gauntlet I bought about 30,000 drones for up to $150 million. The 100,000 figure survives only as a ceiling, with 60,000 committed and 40,000 open to offers. The $3,000 price survives for Close Quarter Battle alone.

Ten Gauntlet II Awards Are Spoken For In A Field Capped At 14

The ten Gauntlet II awardees skip the pitch steps and go to Gauntlet III in the mission they won. Everyone else submits a pitch deck on NSTXL, and about eight companies get a November Pitch & Fly. The program caps Gauntlet III at 14 companies.

The announcement counts ten awardees. Neros placed on both Gauntlet II boards, as DefenseScoop listed them, so the two boards name nine distinct companies. The announcement does not say whether the 14-company cap counts companies or awards. Depending on the count, four or five of the roughly eight pitch companies fit.

Gauntlet II entrants had to fill a 120-drone order with lethality payloads in about five weeks to qualify. The Gauntlet III gate is more than three times that volume, in about two months.

Skycutter finished fourth in Deep Strike. The program’s status page listed it in July as neither ramping nor shipping its Gauntlet I order, Aviation Tech Today reported, and DroneXL covered the placement on September 19.

DroneXL’s Take

The 400-drone gate is the smartest requirement in this announcement, and Gauntlet II is the case for it. A leaderboard score says a drone flew well at Fort Carson in August. Four hundred delivered drones say a company can build them. When I wrote up the Gauntlet II results, I said Skycutter’s shipping status would show whether its fourth-place score was a bad week or a business problem. Skycutter has to clear it to reach Gauntlet III. My read is that the gate exists because of cases like that one, though the announcement never says so.

Watch November’s Pitch & Fly, then watch who ships.

Sources: Drone Dominance Program, Aviation Tech Today, Washington Technology, The Defense Post, Soldier Systems, DefenseScoop.

DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read our editorial standards.