During a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on May 8, the ranking member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), revealed the Army’s plans to cancel the Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) program.

The goal of the program was to field a lighter, quieter, nimble and easy to maintain VTOL vehicle that could be deployed to secure actionable intelligence during multi-domain operations. The FTUAS program’s vision was to provide Brigade Combat Teams with an organic capability for reconnaissance and surveillance operations.

The cancellation comes at the same time as cuts of several other programs and initiatives within the Department of Defense, in efforts towards streamlining. An Army spokesperson confirmed the program cancellation on May 9 in comments to Breaking Defense.

The Textron MK 4.8 HQ Aerosonde and Griffon Aerospace’s Valiant were the two remaining competitors currently participating in the FTUAS Rapid Prototyping Effort. In November 2024, Red Cat Teal was announced as the Army’s Program of Record Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) sUAS.