The Pentagon plans to build a stockpile of hundreds of thousands of attack drones by 2027 and has invited 25 companies to participate, including two Ukrainian firms - General Cherry Corp and Ukrainian Defence Drones Tech Corp, according to a posting on the U.S. military’s website.
The goal of the Drone Dominance Program (DDP) is the “rapid deployment of low-cost, one-way attack drones across the country as part of strengthening America’s arsenal of freedom.”
Phase I is set to begin February 18 at Fort Benning, where the military will test and evaluate vendor systems. It’s expected to wrap in early March, when the Pentagon plans to place prototype orders worth about $150 million.
Deliveries would begin soon after and continue for the next five months.
The program envisions four phases overall. In fall 2025, President Donald Trump spoke about potential cooperation with Ukraine on drones, saying the use of drones on the battlefield “has really come to the forefront” in recent years and that Ukraine produces “very good drones.” He also said at the end of summer that the United States is studying Ukraine’s experience in its war with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier announced two major deals with Washington — a “Mega Deal” for Kyiv to buy U.S. weapons in exchange for security guarantees, and a “Drone Deal” to sell Ukrainian drones to U.S. forces.
He stressed that Kyiv would prioritize arming itself first, exporting only surplus, and underscored the need to control sales to other countries so Ukrainian weapons do not end up in Russia.
Ukraine is also producing interceptor drones jointly with the United States, Zelensky has said.
