The Protection Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Workplace of the Below Secretary of Protection for Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) are unveiling the primary corporations which have handed the vetting required for onboarding policy-compliant, industrial small unmanned plane programs (sUAS) into the Division of Protection (DoD).
The drones added to the DIU “Blue UAS Cleared Checklist” as a part of the Blue sUAS 2.0 undertaking are:
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X2D (new configuration), by Skydio
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Edge 130, by Flightwave
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H6 HE, H6 Hydrone and H6, by Harris Aerial
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Osprey Hexacopter, by Straightforward Aerial
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IF750 and IF1200, by Impressed Flight
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Intense Eye V2, by BlueHalo
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WingtraOne, by Wingtra
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Spirit, by Ascent AeroSystems
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eBee Tac, by senseFly, an AgEagle firm
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AltaX, by Freefly Programs
Programs added to this listing don’t require a DoD exception to coverage to acquire or function as they’ve undergone a cyber-security analysis, an NDAA compliance examine, and have been issued the mandatory administrative documentation. Federal authorities companions may leverage this onboarding course of for his or her programmatic wants with out duplicating efforts.
In October 2021, DIU issued 11 agreements with non-traditional distributors to take part on this pilot program to prototype a brand new approval course of whereas considerably rising the number of capabilities accessible to all branches of the U.S. army. This growth will present further sUAS capabilities requested by the DoD and its federal companions, together with infrastructure inspection, mapping, carrying secondary payloads, and extra conventional reconnaissance duties.
“The Blue UAS Cleared Checklist gives warfighters with all kinds of programs that may assist them higher accomplish their missions. Most customers within the DoD haven’t got entry to the sources wanted to make use of industrial drones, so we’re proud to have prototyped a course of that helps make sUAS extra accessible,” stated David Michelson, DIU program supervisor for Blue UAS. “The warfare in Ukraine highlights simply how impactful sUAS will be, so we hope that this effort permits an increasing number of organizations within the DoD to undertake and make use of drones.”
DIU’s preliminary Blue sUAS undertaking, now known as “1.0,” was introduced in August 2020. Blue sUAS 1.0 made minor modifications to the Military’s ultimate 5 Quick Vary Reconnaissance candidate air autos. The hassle built-in commercially-based floor management stations to create an preliminary standalone industrial/enterprise configuration accessible to all of DoD in addition to different U.S. authorities entities. Skydio, Flightwave, Harris Aerial, Straightforward Aerial, Impressed Flight, BlueHalo, WingtraOne, Ascent Aerosystems, SenseFly, Freefly Programs have joined current Blue sUAS 1.0 cleared programs on a wide range of procurement platforms.
Ongoing updates to the Blue UAS web site will present further updates on coverage, approvals and steadily requested questions for distributors and authorities use of sUAS.
This marks the closeout of Blue UAS 2.0. Additions to this listing could also be added sooner or later. Blue UAS 3.0 is in improvement and particulars shall be launched within the coming months.
