{"id":31147,"date":"2017-08-11T18:51:43","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T18:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/11\/beyond-thunderdrone-air-force-joins-new-unmmaned-tech-prototyping-effort\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:35:43","slug":"beyond-thunderdrone-air-force-joins-new-unmmaned-tech-prototyping-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2017\/08\/11\/beyond-thunderdrone-air-force-joins-new-unmmaned-tech-prototyping-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond ThunderDrone: Air Force joins new unmanned tech prototyping effort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. \u2014 Many drones enter. One drone leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That might be the gist of a new rapid prototyping event called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sofwerx.org\/thunderdrone\/\">ThunderDrone<\/a>,\u201d where small unmanned aerial vehicles duke it out in a series of challenges. On Wednesday, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced the service\u2019s participation in the experiment, which is hosted by SOFWERX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn two months, we\u2019re going to have a big competition. They\u2019ve rented out a big warehouse,\u201d Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said during a Wednesday speech at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a rapid prototyping event, and basically it\u2019s to investigate swarms and platforms and effects and data science of small unmanned aerial vehicles. There\u2019s even one [event] that says, \u2018Ok, bring your stuff, we\u2019ll see who the last drone standing is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The experiment gets its name from the third installment in the Mad Max film franchise, which saw the titular character engage in gladiatorial combat in a steel cage arena named Thunderdome.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/08\/07\/dod-can-now-shoot-down-trespassing-uavs\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635736771792079232-dfn-flying-iedjpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New policy: Military bases can shoot down trespassing drones<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The DoD had pursued a policy to protect its installations from a sharp increase of overhead incursions from private UAVs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The location of ThunderDrone seems to be a little bit more upscale: \u201ca brand new state-of-the-art 7,000 [square foot] indoor drone test range for drone experimentation, prototyping, and testing,\u201d SOFWERX stated on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SOFWERX is a collaboration between Special Operations Command [USSOCOM] and Doolittle Institute, a group that links the Pentagon with innovative companies and academia that don\u2019t often do business with the department. It plans to hold a ThunderDrone technology exhibition in early September, with other events following in the weeks afterward. The experiment will conclude with a \u201cprototype rodeo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the course of the experiment, participants will have the chance to build new UAVs, demonstrate swarming capabilities, show off novel kinetic or nonkinetic effects, and gather data about how best to sustain drones throughout their lifecycle. Although there doesn\u2019t seem to be a cash prize associated with the event, SOFWERX notes that participants will have access to the Defense Department\u2019s acquisition community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Future development money could also be on the line if participants create especially promising technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUsing [special operations forces] and USSOCOM feedback, ThunderDrone may also pick and fund a select few technologies for further development following the RPE [rapid prototyping experiment],\u201d SOFWERX said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2017\/08\/10\/diux-reports-surge-in-pilot-program-funding\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/raj-shah-diux-cybercon-c4isr.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">DIUx reports surge in pilot program funding<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Pentagon\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental (DIUx) awarded $71 million in funding for 37 pilot programs over the last year, and the group expects to transition its first demonstrator program to higher-rate production.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exact nature of the Air Force\u2019s participation in ThunderDrone is still yet to be determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re still working on the details and we\u2019ll get back to you on that one later,\u201d said Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the service\u2018s top uniformed acquisition official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force officials at Holloman on Wednesday said ThunderDrone is just one example of the work the service is doing to inject more innovation into developing tech. Gen. Mike Holmes, head of Air Combat Command, noted that the service has recently became the exclusive sponsor of the Drone Racing League finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs it goes through, we\u2019re looking for a venue where we can hold a race on an Air Force facility,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re looking for venues that are colorful and attractive on television, and we\u2019ve got some of those. So I think it all comes together to an Air Force that is really interested in doing things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Air Force is participating in a new rapid prototyping event called \u201cThunderDrone,\u201d where small unmanned aerial vehicles duke it out in a series of challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7200,"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":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-31147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TG3ETZENXRCHHIJD2EKVVYZXLA","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2017\/08\/11\/beyond-thunderdrone-air-force-joins-new-unmmaned-tech-prototyping-effort\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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