KSL News | 05/31/19
21-year-old Utah Drone CEO Could Win $100M Army Contract—George Matus seems fairly calm and nonchalant for a 21-year-old who is in the running to win a $100 million contract from the United States Army. The Utahn is founder and CEO of Teal, a Murray-based drone company that Matus began when he was just 16. Now, Teal is one of six drone companies competing for a nine-figure contract to create reconnaissance drones for soldiers in the field. It was just a few years ago that the Army banned the use of Chinese drones because of “cyber vulnerability” concerns. Chinese drones dominate the industry, however, so it put the Army in a bit of a tight spot ...
https://www.ksl.com/article/46564047/21-year-old-utah-drone-ceo-could-win-100m-army-contract DroneLife | 08/20/20
Government Approved Drones: U.S. Dept. of Defense Releases List of 5 “Trusted” Drone Options —As a next step to the U.S. government’s ban on Chinese-manufactured drones, including the world’s largest manufacturer, DJI; the U.S. Department of Defense has released a list of government approved drones. The list of products, referred to as “Blue sUAS,” come from 5 different manufacturers: Skydio, Parrot, Altavian, Teal Drones, and Vantage Robotics. The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is a Department of Defense (DOD) organization “that accelerates commercial technology for national defense.” DIU says that todays announcement of “five U.S.-manufactured drone configurations to provide trusted ...
https://dronelife.com/2020/08/20/government-approved-drones-u-s-dept-of-defense-releases-list-of-5-trusted-drone-options/ Reuters | 08/20/20
Pentagon OKs Five U.S.-made Drones as Alternative to China Systems—The U.S. Defense Department on Thursday said five U.S.-manufactured drones have been approved for purchase by the federal government starting in September, offering agencies a secure option after the use of China-made drones was banned. The five companies whose drones will be available are Altavian, Parrot SA, Skydio, Teal and Vantage Robotics, the department said in a statement. The drones comply with a law that prohibits the U.S. military from buying Chinese-made unmanned aircraft systems, it added ...
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-drones/update-1-pentagon-oks-five-us-made-drones-as-alternative-to-china-systems-idUSL1N2FM0GX DefenceNews | 08/20/20
The Pentagon Can Now Buy US-made Small Drones from These Five Companies—Beginning in September, entities across the U.S. Department of Defense will be able to buy small, American-manufactured drones from five select companies, allowing users in the field to quickly and easily gain a bird’s eye view of their environment. A spin-off of U.S. Army efforts to develop a rucksack-packable quadcopter with the Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program of record, the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue sUAS effort let’s U.S. government customers purchase trusted small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) that can take off and land vertically. The new drones were developed to comply with Section 848 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which prohibits the procurement of UAS built in China ...
https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2020/08/20/department-of-defense-can-now-buy-us-manufactured-small-drones-from-these-five-companies/ Defence.gov | 08/20/20
DOD Developing Small, Unmanned Aerial System for Warfighters—For the first time, the Defense Department and the entire federal government will have access to secure, trusted, and American-made commercial drones on the General Service Administration schedule, Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Kratsios announced at a virtual event hosted by the Defense Innovation Unit. This new DIU initiative, dubbed Blue sUAS, is the culmination of 18 months of work by the Army and DIU to tailor the best technology from U.S. and allied companies to develop small unmanned aircraft systems that can be safely adopted by men and women in uniform. During the Aug. 18 DIU event, Kratsios said it also has important impacts for the nation's broader economic and national security ...
https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2318919/?dod-developing-small-unmanned-aerial-system-for-warfighters=) FCW | 08/21/20
Pentagon Advances Domestic Drone Plan—The Defense Department's technology innovation unit announced five small U.S.-based drone vendors to develop rival products to cheap Chinese-made unmanned aerial systems under an accelerated development program at the agency. The move is part of a larger push to develop domestic alternatives to Chinese drones, which have been banned for use by DOD and in other federal agencies. Airborne Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) drones made by Altavian, Parrot, Skydio, Teal and Vantage Robotics will be available through the General Services Administration's buying schedules in September, said an Aug. 20 statement from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) ...
https://fcw.com/articles/2020/08/20/rockwell-diu-domestic-drones.aspx FOX Business | 08/21/20
Pentagon Approves American-made Small Drones for the U.S. Military—The Pentagon approved five small drone makers this week to sell their products to the U.S. Military and federal agencies starting in September. The project, coined Blue small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), is the culmination of an 18-month effort by the Defense Innovation Unit to provide trusted, secure sUAS to the U.S. military. “Blue sUAS represents a tremendous first step toward building a robust and trusted UAS domestic industrial base that ensures sustained delivery of highly-capable, secure UAS to the warfighters that depend on it,” Michael Kratsios, acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said in a statement Thursday ...
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/pentagon-approves-american-made-small-drones-for-the-u-s-military FedScoop
DIU Launches Government-wide Drone-buying Program—The Defense Innovation Unit is launching an acquisition program for federal agencies to buy secure small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) as an alternative to Chinese-made drones, which the government fears pose cybersecurity risks. The program, Blue sUAS, was announced Thursday and will launch in September on the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule to give agencies an easy way to purchase drones that have been vetted and cleared for use ...
https://www.fedscoop.com/diu-drone-program-for-federal-agencies/ 
