{"id":35708,"date":"2022-10-09T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-09T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:44:24","slug":"competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/","title":{"rendered":"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4312\" height=\"2875\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-117023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg 4312w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4312px) 100vw, 4312px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In 2021, AeroVironment acquired Arcturus UAV, which makes the Jump 20 drone, seen here. (AeroVironment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Army is poised to launch<b> <\/b>a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2022\/08\/19\/army-taps-aerovironments-jump-20-to-replace-shadow-uas\/\" target=\"_blank\">selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 earlier this year as an interim option<\/a>. And according to Army aviation leaders, the pool of competitors appears significantly larger than when competition began in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2018, the Army began considering requirements for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2021\/08\/16\/us-army-endorses-tactical-drone-contest-to-replace-shadow\/\" target=\"_blank\">a replacement for the Textron-made Shadow dron<\/a>e. The aircraft is widely used, but is one of the most accident-prone unmanned aerial systems in the service\u2019s inventory. It is also difficult to deploy and has a loud engine, allowing for easy detection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By 2019, the service narrowed the pool of competitors to two: a Martin UAV-Northrop Grumman team and Textron Systems\u2019 AAI. Martin UAV supplied its V-Bat system, while Textron offered its Aerosonde HQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after, the Army added two more aircraft for evaluation: L3Harris Technologies\u2019 FVR-90 and Arcturus UAV\u2019s Jump 20. In 2021, AeroVironment acquired Arcturus for $405 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For about a year, operational units evaluated the four different tactical drones, culminating in a rodeo in spring 2021 at Fort Benning, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two units received Arcturus\u2019 offering, while the other systems went to one unit each. That approach was based on the number of systems readily available and the service\u2019s desire to get platforms to five units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1321\" height=\"881\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_cutout.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-117024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_cutout.jpg.jpg 1321w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_cutout.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_cutout.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_cutout.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1321px) 100vw, 1321px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Martin UAV\u2019s V-Bat drone. (Northrop Grumman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the Fort Benning rodeo, all five units tried each offering to compare them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAlthough the demonstrations were a critical portion of that to inform the requirements, they weren\u2019t necessarily going to be used as source selection,\u201d Maj. Gen. Robert Barrie, the Army\u2019s program executive officer for aviation, told Defense News in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Demonstrations wrapped up in the first half of 2021, but it took until August 2022 for the Army to select one company to build an initial tranche of systems. The service was working through requirements, an acquisition strategy and waiting for congressionally approved funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army in August awarded AeroVironment an $8 million contract to pay for one<b> <\/b>Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System, which includes six air vehicles, ground data terminals and ground control stations. The system will go to a single brigade combat team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIncrement 1 &#8230; really represents the current state of industry regarding performance capabilities that are going to get us rapidly deployable, runway independent, expeditionary, [a] vertical takeoff [capability],\u201d Barrie said ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual conference. \u201cIncrement 1 allows us to field a capability today that\u2019s available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Increment 2, in which the Army prepares for a competitive prototyping phase, \u201cbuilds on that with all of those current demonstrated capabilities, [but] it\u2019s going to increase range, [and] it\u2019s going to incorporate a scalable control interface, which [gives] the ability for multiple soldiers in multiple places to be able to control an Increment 2,\u201d Barrie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second increment should also offer upgraded sensor capability \u2014 \u201cspecifically an enhanced laser designator,\u201d he added. The system is expected to offer more interoperability through manned-unmanned teaming, for example, and provide an improved controller interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, he noted, the second increment must enable organic maintenance of the system so the Army can \u201cbreak ourselves of contractor logistics support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the Increment 2 competitive process, which will involve multiple vendors, the Army plans to choose a winner and buy its system in larger quantities than in Increment 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt will be an incremental downselect [process] to maximize all of the competition,\u201d Barrie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, who manages the Army\u2019s future vertical lift technology development, said five units went through one of the longest soldier evaluations the Army has ever done, and by the end were \u201cpretty much demanding that technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because of that demand, the Army decided to progress in an incremental fashion, providing a unit immediate capability, but then competing to pursue what the service considers to be a truly \u201ctransformational capability,\u201d Rugen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incremental approach and a competition for a second increment are meant to help the Army get the best value for the best capability, according to Barrie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne could argue: \u2018OK, [AeroVironment] won \u2026 therefore they have a leg up.\u2019 The other side is, we have well understood costs and capabilities and limitations with those systems,\u201d Barrie added. \u201cSo as we go into a competitive environment, we will know very well what their system can do, and we\u2019ll be able to compare it against other systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked whether to expect more industry participation this time around, Barrie said: \u201c100%, yes. In fact, I know we have a bigger pool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wouldn\u2019t provide a specific timeline on the Increment 2 prototyping effort, but said decisions will come in fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to FY23 Army budget documents, the service plans to enter FTUAS Increment 2 competitive prototyping in the first quarter of FY23 and wrap it up in the first quarter of FY25. The Army is slated to make a rapid fielding decision in the second quarter of FY25 and to hold an operational evaluation in the third quarter of FY25. The system is planned to then enter full-rate production in the second quarter of FY26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":117022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[94,106,31,29,32,21,111],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3286],"class_list":["post-35708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ausa-digital-show-dailies","category-daily-brief","category-digital-show-dailies","category-home","category-newsletters","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6FFZIWGO4ZHLDJ7KDZ76BQG2MQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/05\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS - C4ISRNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"C4ISRNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-09T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:44:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jen Judson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jen Judson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-10-09T16:00:00+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:44:24+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 862,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"AUSA\",\n\t                \"Daily Brief\",\n\t                \"Digital Show Dailies\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Unmanned\",\n\t                \"Unmanned Systems\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS - C4ISRNet\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-10-09T16:00:00+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:44:24+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/09\\\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Unmanned\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/unmanned\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"unmanned\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"C4ISRNet\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Media for the Intelligence-Age Military | C4ISRNET\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"C4ISRNet\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c4isrnet-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c4isrnet-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"C4ISRNet\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/c4isrnet\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS - C4ISRNet","description":"The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS","og_description":"The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/","og_site_name":"C4ISRNet","article_published_time":"2022-10-09T16:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T00:44:24+00:00","author":"Jen Judson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jen Judson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS","datePublished":"2022-10-09T16:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:44:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/"},"wordCount":862,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["AUSA","Daily Brief","Digital Show Dailies","Home","Newsletters","Unmanned","Unmanned Systems"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/","name":"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS - C4ISRNet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2022-10-09T16:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:44:24+00:00","description":"The U.S. Army is poised to launch a competitive prototyping effort for a tactical drone after selecting AeroVironment\u2019s Jump 20 as an interim solution.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2022\/10\/09\/competition-heats-up-for-armys-future-tactical-uas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unmanned","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/","ad_zone":"unmanned"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Competition heats up for Army\u2019s future tactical UAS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/","name":"C4ISRNet","description":"Media for the Intelligence-Age Military | C4ISRNET","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#organization","name":"C4ISRNet","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c4isrnet-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c4isrnet-logo-white.png","caption":"C4ISRNet"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_NEWmainArt.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"C4ISRNet","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35709,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35708\/revisions\/35709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35708"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=35708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}