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May 15, 2024
The U.S. Army’s Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
The U.S. Army is acquiring a family of small uncrewed
The DOD Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) issued a request
aircraft systems (sUAS) for ground maneuver elements at
for information (RFI) in November 2018 for a quadcopter
the battalion level and below to provide real-time
drone to serve as a short-range sUAS; DIU partnered with
reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA)
the Army on the platoon-level drone program the following
capabilities. For the past two decades, this role was largely
April. For medium- and long-range sUAS, the Army did
filled by the AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven (Figure 1). On
not begin to seek successors to the Raven and Puma until
February 8, 2024, Secretary of the Army Christine
the early 2020s.
Wormuth and General Randy George, Army Chief of Staff,
announced Army plans to phase the RQ-11 Raven out of
Figure 1. AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven
service as part of a broader “rebalance” of the Army’s
aviation investments. This product covers the Group 1 and
2 UAS—those that weigh less than 55 pounds and fly at or
below 3,500 feet above ground level—intended to serve as
successors to the Army’s legacy RSTA sUAS.
Background
In 1988, the Department of Defense (DOD) Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle Joint Program Office (UAV JPO) published
its first “Master Plan” for uncrewed aircraft, which
established the requirements and acquisition strategy for
UAV systems. The Master Plan recommended a “close
range” UAS for “lower-level tactical units,” one that could
be acquired in large numbers and at low cost. In the late
1990s and early 2000s, the Military Operations in Urban
Terrain Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration
Source: Kevin C. Mcdevitt, Fort Dix Training Support Center.
(MOUT ACTD), an Army-led experimentation program,
showed how a man-portable sUAS could provide ground
In June 2023, the Army transitioned the RPUAS CPD
units with enhanced situational awareness and force
requirements to the Joint Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
protection. The MOUT ACTD led the Army and Special
Capability Development Document (J-sUAS CDD),
Operations Command (SOCOM) to work with
guidance that specifies key system and performance
AeroVironment to develop in 2002 the fixed-wing, 4-pound
attributes and an acquisition timeline for the Army’s
RQ-11 Raven, a smaller, more advanced version of the Gulf
planned family of RSTA sUAS. Similar to the Army’s 2013
War-era AeroVironment FQM-151 Pointer. The Army
RPUAS CPD, the J-sUAS CDD describes Army plans to
introduced the RQ-11 in 2003 and, by 2010, fielded close to
field what the service now refers to as short-range
4,000 Raven aircraft. The Marine Corps, SOCOM, and the
reconnaissance (SRR), medium-range reconnaissance
Air Force also adopted the Raven.
(MRR), and long-range reconnaissance (LRR) UAS at the
levels of platoon, company, and battalion, respectively.
Beginning in the early 2010s, Army officials devised plans
Additionally, the J-sUAS CDD contains three new
for expanding the service’s small UAS capabilities to
initiatives—first-person view (FPV) drones for squads and
include a family of short-, medium-, and long-range sUAS
platoons, tethered UAS for platoons, and a drone swarm
platforms. Under the Rucksack Portable UAS Increment II
capability for companies—the requirements for all of which
Capability Production Document (RPUAS CPD), approved
remain in various stages of development. Including the
in 2013, the Army provided a modified Raven and limited
SBS, the J-sUAS architecture encompasses seven programs.
quantities of the AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma to companies
and battalions, respectively, for medium- and long-range
The requirements for the aircraft in the J-sUAS CDD
RSTA capabilities on an interim basis pending the
differentiate them from the Raven and Puma in several
development of new platforms for these roles. Platoons,
ways. The Raven and Puma sUAS feature a conventional
meanwhile, would be equipped with a short-range drone,
fixed-wing configuration, which potentially hampers their
the development of which the Army planned to begin later
usefulness in restrictive terrain, such as urban or forested
in the decade. Separately, in 2017, the Army approved the
areas. With SRR, MRR, and LRR UAS, the Army appears
Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program to acquire miniature
to be prioritizing a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL)
drones for infantry squads. The Army selected the FLIR
capability in the form of either multirotor or hybrid-VTOL
Systems Black Hornet as the SBS and awarded FLIR a
configurations. The Army’s RFIs for future sUAS indicate
contract for the first batch of SBS systems in May 2018.
that the service plans to acquire aircraft that can deliver
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The U.S. Army’s Smal Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
lethal payloads, such as air-dropped grenades or glide
the Company-Level sUAS, marking the first year the
munitions. In contrast to the Raven and Puma, which were
service included funding for a new medium-range sUAS.
designed largely to conduct surveillance and
reconnaissance, the Army may require the next generation
In January 2023, the Army issued an RFI for the LRR UAS
of small UAS to conduct a greater variety of missions,
that expressed an interest in a platform that is capable of
including launching lethal strikes and relaying
taking off and landing vertically and of flying for a
communications for other drones and ground units.
minimum of five hours and at a line-of-sight range of 30
kilometers (18.6 miles). In its proposed FY2025 budget, the
Small UAS in the Army’s FY2025
Army requested approximately $25.6 million in RDT&E
Budget Request
funds for work on the LRR UAS. According to Army
In its proposed FY2025 budget, the Army requested
projections in its budget justification documents, the Army
approximately $46.1 million in procurement and $26.8
expects to evaluate prototypes for the LRR through FY2026
million in research, development, test, and evaluation
and to begin procuring the aircraft the following fiscal year.
(RDT&E) funding for the SRR, MRR, and LRR UAS.
Additionally, the Army’s list of unfunded budget priorities
Figure 2. Skydio X2D
for FY2025 includes $70.5 million in procurement funding
for the SRR and MRR UAS. For the Soldier Borne Sensor
program, the Army requested $22 million and $1.6 million
in procurement and RDT&E funds, respectively. Excluding
the unfunded priorities list, the Army’s FY2025 budget
request for the aforementioned small UAS is roughly 21%
greater than that of FY2024.
The SRR UAS is the Army’s first program of record for a
small quadcopter drone. DIU and the Army argued that the
SRR UAS should capitalize on the increasing sophistication
of the drones available on the commercial market. By
executing the program in phased tranches, the Army has
indicated that it aims to maintain the flexibility to respond
to advances in technology and user feedback. In April 2019,
DIU and Army officials selected six companies to compete
Source: Sgt. Jorden Newbanks, Camp Ripley Training Center.
for Tranche 1 of the SRR UAS program, before awarding
Notes: The Skydio X2D, or RQ-28A, was the Army’s selection for
Skydio a contract in February 2022 for the RQ-28A, a
Tranche 1 of the SRR UAS program.
militarized version of the Skydio X2D (Figure 2). The
Army is in the final stages of selecting a system for the
Considerations for Congress
Tranche 2 version, which the Army expects will begin
As part of its oversight role, Congress could examine the
replacing the Tranche 1 version beginning in FY2026.
following:
In its proposed FY2025 budget, the Army requested $21.1
• Whether and the extent to which the Army is
million to acquire 270 Tranche 2 systems, or 540 aircraft
incorporating the rapid rate of technological change into
(two air vehicles constitute each SRR system), as well as
the requirements and acquisition process for the SRR,
$1.15 million in RDT&E funding. The cost of one SRR
MRR, and LRR UAS.
system is expected to rise from $39,800 in Tranche 1 to
$65,000 in Tranche 2. Army budget justification documents
• Whether the Army is considering establishing a military
attribute this potential increase to the Tranche 2 version’s
occupational specialty (MOS) for small UAS operators
improved obstacle avoidance, communications, and electro-
and, if so, whether the Army has identified the potential
optical and infrared sensors, among other enhancements.
costs associated with such a move.
The MRR UAS would provide an organic RSTA capability
• Whether and the extent to which the Army is
to Army companies. In 2023, the Army Futures Command
considering acquiring low-cost, off-the-shelf drones for
approved a Directed Requirement for a “Company-Level
operational use.
sUAS” that is intended to provide an initial Tranche 1
capability for the MRR UAS, as well as inform the
• Whether and the extent to which the Army is
requirements of that future system. The Army detailed the
coordinating is efforts to acquire short-, medium-, and
desired specifications of the Company-Level sUAS in a
long-range small UAS with the Marine Corps.
March 1, 2024 RFI; these specifications include a
commercial off-the-shelf system that is capable of VTOL
Daniel M. Gettinger, Analyst in U.S. Defense Policy
flight, weighs less than 55 pounds, and is able to fly eight
hours in a 24-hour period. In its proposed FY2025 budget,
IF12668
the Army requested $25 million in procurement funding for
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The U.S. Army’s Smal Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
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