A First-Person View (FPV) drone from the 25th Infantry Division maneuvers during an FPV drone live-fire exercise (LFX) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Oct. 17, 2025. The LFX demonstrated the division’s ability to employ one-way attack drones and produce lethal effects. (Courtesy photo)
WASHINGTON —The Pentagon has begun accepting small, one-way attack drones as part of its larger push to boost production and provide every squad with the weapon later this year, according to the program’s website.
In total, the Department of Defense has ordered a total of 20,000 small, first-person view (FPV) drones from 10 of the top 11 vendors that competed in its Gauntlet 1 competition, according to the Drone Dominance “Leaderboard” website. That figure is 10,000 shy of the previously predicted order figure, though the company in third place, Napatree, has not yet been awarded a deal.
According to Leaderboard, Neros, which produces the Archer small quadcopter, is leading deliveries, having shipped all 2,400 of its ordered drones to the military with 1,040 of those accepted. The rest of the pack has now shipped a combined 560 drones to the Pentagon, all awaiting acceptance, while the remaining drones are in various states of production.
