Department of War: Over 25,000 Autonomous and Counter-Unmanned Systems Delivered to CENTCOM This Year
The Department of War announced on November 4 that this year, the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems (DRPM-UxS) has delivered a massive surge of combat-ready, mass-producible unmanned systems and counter-drone capabilities to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), providing operational commanders with immediate, cost-effective tactical lethality across the theater. The deliveries represent an investment of approximately $782 million this year.
According to the Department, DRPM-UxS has fielded over 1,300 One-Way Attack (OWA) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), providing precision deep-strike mass; over 100 Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) and Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUVs), expanding maritime reconnaissance and strike lethality; and more than 24,000 Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS), establishing a dense, multi-layered defensive shield to protect forward-deployed forces against adversary drone attacks through its counter unit, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401).
The deliveries demonstrate the Department's rapid shift from multi-year developmental pipelines to an agile "Warfighting Acquisition" model, the Department said: in the hands of American warfighters, these low-cost, attritable systems serve as high-volume alternatives to legacy, multi-million-dollar exquisite munitions, flipping the battlefield cost-exchange ratio firmly in favor of the United States. By scaling commercial production lines and deploying modular software baselines, DRPM-UxS is driving a fundamental restructuring of defense procurement, serving as the operational foundation for the Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), a planned four-star functional combatant command scheduled to stand up by October 1, 2027.
"Under Secretary Hegseth's direction, we are moving at the speed of modern combat to equip our forces with decisive, affordable mass," said Owen West, CEO of Project Agincourt and DRPM-UxS. "DRPM-UxS was established to cut through red tape and put lethal technology directly into the hands of our frontline troops. The thousands of systems operating across CENTCOM this year are just the beginning. We will out-innovate, out-build, and out-adapt any adversary on the battlefield. The goal is to scale these capabilities across the Joint Force."
At Secretary Hegseth's direction, DRPM-UxS will sustain continuous deliveries of low-cost, mass-producible unmanned and autonomous systems to CENTCOM while rapidly expanding fielding pipelines to Pacific Command, European Command, and the broader Joint Force, the Department said.
(Source: U.S. Department of War)
Source: U.S. Department of War
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美军固定式低慢小无人机综合防御系统发射 Coyote 拦截弹（反无人机演习资料图）。美国陆军照片，Joseph Kumzak 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A U.S. Army Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System fires a Coyote interceptor during a counter-UAS exercise (file photo). U.S. Army photo by Joseph Kumzak, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
