Replicator Updates From AUVSI: May 3, 2024

Welcome back to AUVSI’s biweekly newsletter to keep the uncrewed and autonomous systems industries updated on DOD’s Replicator initiative.

Replicator In the News

The Pentagon Wants to Give Defense Startups a Chance Bloomberg Businessweek

• The conviction behind the DIU has always been that much of the technology the US military needs is less likely to come from the so-called primes than from startups and other unconventional defense contractors.
• In another vote of confidence, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks in August gave the DIU a role in a Pentagon program called Replicator that’s focused on deploying autonomous systems such as self-piloting ships and uncrewed aircraft by the thousands within the next two years.

Defense Innovation Unit prepares to execute $800 million funding boost C4ISRNet Courtney Albon

• During a keynote fireside at AUVSI’s conference last week, DIU Director Dough Beck said he doesn’t foresee any issues with DIU quickly putting appropriated funds to work on a condensed timeline.
• The funding comes as DIU’s influence in the Pentagon is growing. DIU is playing a key role in Replicator an effort to field thousands of drones in two years and develop a process for quickly delivering capabilities to military users.

Operationalizing the Defense Innovation Unit and Blue sUAS DroneLife Dawn Zoldi

• At XPONENTIAL, Beck said Replicator 1.0 has made substantial strides in achieving its objectives. Replicator 1.0 remains poised to keep delivering a range of off-the-shelf and newer technologies to the warfighter within an accelerated time frame. Breaking through traditional barriers, the Replicator team has achieved some milestones that would typically take the Department 2-3 years, in just over a month.
• This progress has fueled DIU’s commitment to institutionalize this approach for future iterations. “There will be a Replicator 2, 3, 3 down the road,” Beck announced.

How digital engineering could produce new weapons faster Defense One

• The Defense Department is setting ambitious goals for itself to design prototypes much faster than it has historically. Take Replicator, the Defense Department’s billion-dollar program to create tens of thousands of small, cheap drones in a fraction of the time it takes to build new platforms.
• Increasingly, defense officials say that designs for such systems, in the face of a high-tech adversary like China or Russia, will need regular re-design as adversaries innovate their defenses.

DoD gets serious about technology transfer to the troops Federal News Network

• DoD’s Chief Data Officer for Research and Engineering, Cyrus J. says, “With the announcement of the Replicator initiative, we have niche combinations of technologies, such as what Hicks announced the focus for Replicator in this first tranche will be on what are called all domain autonomous, a tradable or ADA2 technologies. We want to get a better grapple of across research, engineering, and acquisitions, and throughout the defense innovation ecosystem. What is in the pipeline and how can we better leverage it?”

A drone factory in Utah is at the epicenter of anti-China fervor Washington Post

• The Pentagon has announced a “Replicator” program to produce thousands of U.S. small drones, in an initiative that U.S. dronemakers hope will help provide them with steady sales and help offset their higher production costs.
• Jeff Thompson , whose company Red Cat Holdings acquired Teal Drones in 2021, said other governments across North America and Europe are also ordering thousands of drones, wary of being caught flat-footed if another war breaks out.

Replicator’s Demand Signal for Industry

Saab unveils technology incubator using Enforcer 3 as test bed Defense News

• Skapa's focus on uncrewed systems and AI comes as the Defense Department looks to increase its inventory of attritable drones through programs like Replicator and introduce additional autonomous materiel across the armed services. Saab Michael D. Brasseur

RapidFlight Delivers UAS Innovation, Meeting Replicator Initiative Requirements press release

• At XPONENTIAL 2024, RapidFlight showcased its ability to print, assemble, and fly long-range, high-payload unmanned aircraft in support of the Replicator Initiative.

AUVSI's Defense Advocacy Committee advances policies and funding for uncrewed and autonomous systems in the Department of Defense, ensuring the U.S. remains at the forefront of autonomous defense technologies. Learn more or contact Michael Smitsky, Esq.