Robinson Unmanned, competing under the Ascent AeroSystems brand, has been selected to participate in Gauntlet II of the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program (DDP), the company announced August 5. The advancement comes as the company continues deliveries of its SPIRIT first-person-view (FPV) drone, a coaxial unmanned aerial system built for rugged, all-weather operation.

The DDP is a phased acquisition effort aimed at building a resilient, U.S.-based supply chain for low-cost, one-way attack drone systems. According to data published through the program’s official channels, Robinson Unmanned ranked among the top performers in DDP’s Phase 1 competition for production capability, as the Pentagon shifts its evaluation focus from prototyping toward scalable manufacturing of mission-ready platforms. Gauntlet II is set to take place at Fort Carson, Colorado, in August 2026.

Robinson Unmanned’s path to Gauntlet II ran through a Phase 2 qualifier held in June 2026 at Camp Grayling, Michigan, where the company was among 49 competitors demonstrating UAS configurations across two mission sets: Long Range Strike and Tactical Assault in Close Quarters. Robinson Unmanned was one of 19 companies invited to advance following that qualifier.

The company is competing with its SPIRIT-FPV system, built on the NDAA-compliant, Blue UAS Cleared SPIRIT airframe. “As we advance to Gauntlet II, we recognize that unmanned systems will play an increasingly important role within the Department of Defense, but the future of unmanned systems won’t be defined by drone capability alone. It will be defined by which companies can manufacture reliable systems at scale,” said Paul Fermo, president of Robinson Unmanned. “This milestone validates that Robinson Unmanned, backed by Robinson Helicopter Company’s 53-years of aerospace manufacturing excellence, has the U.S. engineering, manufacturing capability, and resilient supply chain required to rapidly deliver reliable, NDAA-compliant unmanned systems to operators at the speed of relevance.”

“At Robinson Unmanned we understand that true operational capability begins with aerospace-grade reliability. Built on our NDAA-compliant, Blue UAS Cleared SPIRIT airframe, SPIRIT-FPV is a rugged, modular, easy to deploy system that is ready for real-world missions,” Fermo added.

Robinson Unmanned, which holds Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 compliance, was formed in March 2026 when Robinson Helicopter Company rebranded to integrate Ascent AeroSystems’ coaxial UAS line alongside remotely piloted and autonomous variants of its R44 and R66 helicopters, expanding the company’s manned and unmanned vertical-lift offerings across civil, commercial, and defense sectors.