U.S. orders 6,000 Striker indoor attack drones for $40.5 million under Drone Dominance program.

On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded XTEND AI Robotics a $40.5 million order for 6,000 Striker attack drones following competitive evaluations at Fort Carson, Colorado. The contract leverages XTEND's XOS operating system to enable AI-assisted navigation in GNSS-denied urban environments and confined building corridors. This procurement represents a 50-fold expansion over XTEND's Gauntlet II evaluation batch and directly supports the Pentagon's $1.1 billion Drone Dominance Program.

The Pentagon ordered 6,000 XTEND Striker attack drones for $40.5 million under its Drone Dominance Program to equip U.S. forces with AI-assisted drones to strike enemy positions inside buildings and in GPS-denied urban environments. (Picture source: XTEND)

On October 13, 2026, XTEND AI Robotics received a $40.5 million order from the U.S. Department of Defense for 6,000 Striker attack drones after finishing third in the Close Quarters Battle category of Gauntlet II at Fort Carson, Colorado, behind Neros Technologies and Orqa US. The award averages $6,750 per drone, compared with $5,429 for Orqa's 7,000-drone order and $7,143 for Neros's 14,000, although the packages do not necessarily contain identical equipment and support. The Striker uses XTEND's XOS operating system for operator-controlled, AI-assisted attacks inside buildings, corridors, and GNSS-denied urban environments. The contract follows the evaluation of 120 Striker systems, making the new quantity 50 times larger than XTEND's Gauntlet II batch and contributing to the Pentagon's $1.1 billion Drone Dominance Program, intended to acquire more than 200,000 lethal small drones by 2027 through four competitive procurement phases.

The three leading Close Quarters Battle competitors received orders totaling 27,000 drones and $178.5 million, with Neros securing $100 million, Orqa US $38 million, and XTEND $40.5 million. XTEND represents 22.2% of their combined aircraft quantities and 22.7% of expenditure. Unlike Deep Strike drones evaluated for engagements reaching 20 km, the Striker targets enemy positions inside structures, where restricted passages and interrupted satellite signals complicate navigation. Its contracted weight, speed, range, endurance, and warhead mass remain unconfirmed. XTEND also received a separate U.S. Special Operations Command Modular Kinetic Lethal Drone Phase III award on September 23, while its Gauntlet II ranking permits direct entry into Gauntlet III after completing a 400-unit production requirement.

Related topic: US Drone Dominance Program targets supply limits and Chinese supply chains to build 200,000 units by 2027

The Drone Dominance program followed President Donald Trump's June 6, 2025, Executive Order 14307 and Secretary Pete Hegseth's July 10 military drone directive. Managed through the Defense Innovation Unit, Test Resource Management Center, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, the four-phase initiative began with $150 million for 30,000 drones, followed by a 60,000-unit Gauntlet II target and subsequent rounds potentially reaching 150,000 each. The Pentagon intends to reduce average acquisition costs from $5,000 to $3,000, lowering expenditure on 150,000 drones from $750 million to $450 million. Delivering that quantity annually requires 12,500 drones monthly or 577 per working day, assuming 260 production days. The Army's separate December 2025 objective of 340,000 small drones over two years represents a broader acquisition ambition.

The Gauntlet I began on February 18, 2026, at Fort Benning with 25 manufacturers and nearly 100 military operators receiving two hours of training before evaluating each design. Missions included a 10 km open-terrain attack and shorter urban engagements, with the Skycutter finishing first and 11 manufacturers receiving orders. The June 8-19 Gauntlet II qualifier at Camp Grayling involved 49 manufacturers, 79 drone configurations, and 20 drones per company, with 19 competitors advancing to Fort Carson. Final evaluations increased quantities to 120 drones per manufacturer and introduced night operations and confined-space attacks. All 11 Deep Strike designs reached 15 km, compared with 24% reaching 10 km during Gauntlet I, while October's Gauntlet 2.5 introduced 17 bomber-class systems for 15-30 km missions.

Ukraine's projected 2026 production of 6 million to 7 million FPV attack drones corresponds to 500,000 to 583,333 monthly or 16,438 to 19,178 daily, making the Pentagon's 200,000-drone objective equivalent to only 10 to 12 days of Ukrainian output. The figures cover different procurement systems, but illustrate the manufacturing disparity. Assuming quadrotor configurations, 200,000 drones require 800,000 motors, 200,000 flight controllers, 200,000 batteries, and at least 200,000 cameras. Producing 500,000 monthly requires 2 million usable motors, increasing to 2.105 million purchased units with a 5% rejection rate. At $3,000 per unit, 200,000 drones cost $600 million, compared with $18 billion to $21 billion for 6 million to 7 million, excluding associated equipment.

Moreover, the Pentagon's July 23, 2026, sourcing changes excluded Chinese-origin motors and batteries from Gauntlet II, with GPS-module restrictions scheduled for February 2027 and full domestic supply-chain traceability targeted for August 2027. DIU deputy director Travis Metz estimated that most initial-phase drones probably contained Chinese motors, requiring manufacturers to replace established suppliers. An estimated 88% of microelectronics production and 98% of semiconductor assembly, packaging, and testing occur outside the United States. On August 20, the White House assembled nearly 100 representatives from 40 companies to connect drone procurement with more than $200 billion in Office of Strategic Capital lending authority. Performance Drone Works received a conditional financing commitment of up to $820 million, while Orqa US partnered with By Light at a 180,000-square-foot Florida factory; Orqa's parent company previously reported an annual capacity of 280,000 drones.

On October 14, 2026, Hegseth also outlined a separate $50 billion reconciliation funding request for autonomous and robotic systems, alongside a fiscal year 2027 drone-related request of $53.6 billion. The latter includes $16.9 billion for unmanned systems, $14.4 billion for counter-UAS, $13.5 billion for contested logistics, $4.5 billion for collaborative autonomy, and $4.3 billion for institutional capabilities and personnel. By June 17, DIU had accepted its initial drone batch, shipped nearly 2,000 additional drones, and identified thousands awaiting fulfillment. Army Col. Gregory Merkl identified operator training as a constraint on squad-level distribution, prompting DIU to recruit 100 experienced FPV operators for Gauntlet III. The Army is also considering warrant officer specialty 390A for robotics instruction and long-term expertise.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.