Pentagon pushes US dronemakers to innovate as quickly as Ukraine does
DIU’s Project GI initiative aims to embed frontline insights into a perpetual loop of design, testing, and deployment.
Patrick Tucker | June 2, 2025 03:15 PM ET
A new Pentagon program is pushing drone makers to continuously improve their systems based on troops’ feedback, hoping to spur innovation that moves as quickly as the war in Ukraine.
Launched on Monday, the Defense Innovation Unit's Project GI initiative aims to embed frontline insights into a perpetual loop of design, testing, and deployment. It’s a deliberate effort to mimic how the Ukrainian military has out-innovated Russian forces by rapidly fielding and iterating drone technology under fire.
The chaotic pace of Russian electronic warfare tactics necessitates that, a factor that is likely to exist as a backdrop to more future conflict, particularly in the Asian-Pacific. It will be open for submissions on a rolling basis through December 31, (which is also a change from the traditional narrow submissions window for competitions.)
The Pentagon has been exploring ways to more rapidly acquire drones since the 2017 operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. While it has made some progress—particularly in the special operations community—those efforts largely reflect streamlined bureaucracy rather than new mechanisms for real-time adaptation and innovation, Trent Emeneker, DIU’s Blue UAS lead, said in an interview.
https://www.defenseone.com/business/2025/06/pentagon-pushes-us-dronemakers-innovate-quickly-ukraine-does/405739/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
