U.S. Air Force ‘Game Of Drones’ Invites Industry To Spar In War Games

A New Type Of Contest

While the competition complements the Pentagon’s efforts to rapidly integrate and scale drone technology across U.S. military branches, it is markedly different from the Drone Dominance program that sees companies compete in gauntlets, according to U.S. Air Force Col. Dustin “Whiz” Thomas, commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Special Programs Unmanned Systems-Experimental (US-X) detachment.

“Game of Drones is different. It’s not meant for vendors to sell drones right away and sign contracts on the spot,” Thomas told Forbes.

“This is to help vendors go from a low technology readiness level, maybe some concepts, and help them integrate, find gaps and improve quickly so they can compete and get a contract award.”

Thomas’s US-X team is spearheading the effort alongside the highly specialized Experimental Test Force of the Air Force’s 412th Test Wing. They are taking a fluid battle lab approach to help companies achieve goals in working with the military.

“I became the director of the ETF last June – pretty much the exact same day that Operation Spiderweb happened over in Ukraine,” U.S. Air Force Maj. Christopher “Razor” Vorgert, ETF commander, said in an interview, adding that drone tactics have become a major focus across the joint force since.

“We started Game of Drones as a grassroots effort,” Vorgert said. “What we want to achieve is a persistent experimentation environment where industry and government partners can come out and experiment with small drone technology and counter-UAS [Unmanned Aircraft Systems] in a place where it’s safe to fail.”

Open Sandbox For Industry

Manufacturers taking part in Game of Drones can freely experiment across an open landscape with a vast amount of military resources to assess their performance.

The world’s largest airfield, Edwards is home to the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and the U.S. Air Force Test Center. The base is renowned as a proving ground for cutting-edge developmental U.S. flight technology.

“There are plenty of places you can test small drones, especially in California. You don’t need a big airfield. But what you don’t have is the airspace where you can do free-form, live warfare tactics,” said Chase Kohler, director of communications for the 412th Test Wing Public Affairs.

“When you come up to Edwards, not only are you utilizing all the assets that Edwards has for data and collection, you’re also getting real-time feedback.”

“This is meant for things to fall out of the sky,” he continued. “We have the airspace and we can sanitize it. Things can fly and if they don’t work, that’s great. Pick it up, fix it and fly it again tomorrow.”

Recurring War Games

The “games” last a single week in a significant change from previous complex testing processes of about five months. The initial phase sees private companies demonstrate their product’s capabilities to establish baselines. They can bring drones, sensors and even software.

The competition is not limited to small quadcopter drones, as there are no limits to the types of systems that manufacturers can introduce.

“It’s a pretty open envelope for whatever the vendors want to bring and try and experiment with,” Thomas said.

Expert military drone operators interact with manufacturers to explain what works and what doesn’t.

By the end of the week, the experiment snowballs into an all-out war game. Scenarios so far have included contested logistics – drones trying to deliver supplies while under attack – and drones released from a drone “mothership” to attack other drones.

It’s worked well so far, according to Thomas. “Industry loves being able to have that hands-on feedback, because it makes their product better so much quicker,” he said.

The Need To Develop And Test Larger Drones

The military is particularly interested in seeing systems conduct signals intelligence, night reconnaissance, one-way attacks, logistics delivery and counter-drone tactics, Vorgert said.

Moreover, while small quadcopter drones are often in the spotlight, larger drone systems such as those classed as Group 3 are of greater operational significance to the Air Force, according to Thomas.

Drones categorized as Group 3 can weigh from 55 lbs to 1,350 lbs. Edwards has been a long-time proving ground for these systems, and Thomas hopes the games will see more of them.

“For the Air Force in particular, Group 3 [drones] offer far more strategic capability because they have a greater range and a larger payload. Group 1 and 2 drones are fantastic, but as we’re looking at different regions of the world, we’re going to need to be able to take bigger payloads at longer ranges,” he said.

“It’s really very important to be able to quickly experiment and test with Group 3 [drones], which the Experimental Test Force here is doing.”

Competitive Gains In Drone Development

The Game of Drones will run throughout the year, and each round has a different battle theme. The next tournament is planned to take place the week of July 13. The test force is currently accepting industry partners to participate.

The upcoming theme will focus on drone swarms and counter-swarms, but companies do not necessarily need to possess swarming technology, Vorgert said.

A primary focus of the exercise will be exploring drone-killing systems, how counter-drone systems can overcome swarms and to test integrating counter-drone systems into a mesh “kill web.”

Manufacturers can compete multiple times. The main goal of the games is improvement and to help private companies refine technology to make the DCMA’s Blue List of systems approved for sale to U.S. military units.

As drone and counter-drone technologies become more ubiquitous and military demands increase, manufacturers will be increasingly challenged to demonstrate their products’ competitive edge to military customers.

Having an opportunity to use the Air Force’s state-of-the-art testing facilities on a regular basis could potentially give start-ups and innovators a head start in pioneering new frontiers for drone warfare.