Robinson Unmanned Advances Through U.S. Drone Program

The U.S. Department of Defense has selected Robinson Unmanned to participate in the second round of its Drone Dominance Program (DDP). According to the offshoot of Robinson Helicopters, the announcement last week follows a strong performance for the OEM’s Spirit first-person-view uncrewed aerial system in the inaugural round. 

Having competed alongside 48 other companies in an initial Phase 2 qualifying event, held in June, Robinson Unmanned was named as one of 19 selected to advance to the main round. For the DDP competition, the company is operating as Ascent AeroSystems, whose coaxial uncrewed air systems are part of the Robinson Helicopters portfolio.

Flight evaluations for the program will be held in Colorado this month. Drone deliveries—resulting from orders placed with the top 11 companies in Phase 1—are in progress, with Ascent AeroSystems having shipped 800 units to date. 

“Each phase of the program begins with a Gauntlet challenge and ends with completed delivery of production-quality sUAS [small Unmanned Aircraft System] systems from winners of the event,” explained the DoD, which added that the drones will be flown and evaluated by military operators. 

Announced in December 2025, the DoD has described the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance initiative as “an iterative $1 billion plan to purchase small, lethal drones over the next two years,” aiming to acquire over 200,000 units by 2027. Initiated in 2025, the program follows what it terms a “challenge-based acquisition model,” with 30,000 drones ordered from the first phase of a selection competition (named Gauntlet 1) in February 2026. Gauntlet 2, currently in progress, will be succeeded by three further rounds. 

According to Robinson, official DDP data placed it “as one of the top performers” in the initial round for its “strong production capabilities,” something it says is “an increasingly relevant signal.” Robinson Unmanned President Paul Fermo suggested that drone capability alone is no longer sufficient to define the future of uncrewed systems, but rather a company’s ability to manufacture reliable systems at scale. 

DoD officials have indicated that a strong supply chain and sovereign manufacturing capability is key to meeting the project’s expectations. In July, Drone Dominance released an updated version of its supply chain framework, defining what it called “a more stringent interpretation” of rules aiming to “advance the American drone industry as [it works] towards a wholly domestic sUAS supply chain.” 

Robinson Helicopter’s Uncrewed subsidiary was formally unveiled in March 2026 at the Verticon show. At the time, Robinson Helicopter president and CEO David Smith suggested there is a need for defense products at commercial cost “built by a sustainable business, not a VC-backed money-losing business,” concluding with his belief that Robinson “are the only ones that can build incredibly [fast] at aerospace quality and automotive scale.”