The War Department is treating small, one-way attack drones less like boutique weapons and more like ammunition, and it is doing so at a scale that resembles a draft for machines. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has effectively run a mock mobilization for industry,

The War Department announced on Tuesday that 25 companies will compete for $150 million in contracts to build attack drones for U.S. forces.

The first phase of the Pentagon's drone competition, Gauntlet, begins later this month. US drone operators will fly and test the systems.

The Pentagon eventually wants to field swarms of low-cost, one-way attack drones that cost just a few thousand dollars apiece.

The Merritt Island facility, located at Exploration Park next to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is designed to produce and integrate Blue Origin’s heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. The vehicle has flown twice and is seeking certification for national security space launch missions after four successful launches.