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8 October 2024

Pentagon homes in on counter-drone tech in Replicator 2 initiative

Valerie Insinna and Ashley Roque

The Pentagon has greenlit a second Replicator initiative, this time taking aim at the problem of countering small drones at US military installations across the globe, the department announced today.

In a Sept. 27 memo detailing the new effort, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin charged Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks with developing a plan for Replicator 2, with the intent of seeking funding for the new project in the upcoming fiscal 2026 budget request and fielding “meaningfully improved” counter-drone capabilities within 24 months of receiving money from Congress.

“I am confident the Replicator initiative will complement and advance the significant C-sUAS [counter small unmanned aerial systems] work already underway in the DoD,” Austin stated in the memo. “The expectation is that Replicator 2 will assist with overcoming challenges we face in the areas of production capacity, technology innovation, authorities, policies, open system architecture and system integration, and force structure.”

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