The US Department of Defense announced on Monday that it will add two drone models and new networking software to the US military’s arsenal as part of its ambitious “Replicator” initiative, which aims to quickly field thousands of drones, Reuters reported.
US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said that the Ghost-X and S-100 drones, manufactured by Anduril Industries and Performance Drone Works, respectively, were selected under the Replicator program for the needs of the US Army’s weapons manufacturers’ project for small unmanned aerial systems.
The Replicator program, announced last year, is an ambitious project to quickly deploy a large number of cheap drones in the army’s arsenal by August next year, Reuters and BTA note.
The Pentagon has foreseen a cost of $ 500 million per year under the plan for the armament and purpose of thousands of cheap and “smart” combat drones, which will be ready for action in a possible future military conflict.
Replicator 1 is a pilot project to solve a serious problem at the Pentagon, which the future government of the newly elected US President Donald Trump would use to facilitate the filling of the US military with drones, Reuters points out.
The second phase of the initiative – Replicator 2 – will be aimed at neutralizing enemy drones. Today’s statement by Deputy Secretary Hicks concerns the second package of purchases within the framework of the Replicator program.
The first package included the Switchblade 600 self-propelled gun systems manufactured by AeroVironment Inc, which are able to circle around the target, choosing a convenient moment to fire, Reuters notes.
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