The second iteration of the Pentagon’s Replicator rapid-fielding initiative will focus on countering small drones, with plans to request funds for the initiative in the fiscal 2026 budget, according to Defense Department leaders.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced “counter small uncrewed aerial systems,” or C-SUAS, as the Replicator 2 focus area in a memo last week to senior Pentagon leaders. His decision follows a monthslong review that considered what capability gaps could be best addressed through the rapid fielding initiative.
“Replicator 2 will tackle the warfighter priority of countering the threat posed by small uncrewed aerial systems to our most critical installations and force concentrations,” he said in the memo, which was released publicly on Monday. “My expectation is that Replicator 2 will field meaningfully improved C-sUAS protection to critical assets within 24 months of Congress approving funding.”
Championed by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, Replicator’s goal is to create a new pathway for the Pentagon to buy and scale high-need capabilities on faster timelines.
The first test of that pathway, Replicator 1, centers on delivering thousands of low-cost drones by next summer. The department plans to spend a total of $1 billion on the effort in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, with funds drawn from various sources including prior-year appropriations, a reprogramming request, a national security supplemental approved in August, and the Pentagon’s yet-to-be approved FY25 budget proposal.
As DOD leaders began deliberating this summer on what to pursue in Replicator 2, they focused on capabilities that would address a near-term operational imperative and would benefit from senior leader backing, Hicks told Defense News in June. According to Austin’s memo, the need to protect against growing threats posed by enemy drones fits the bill.
Hostile drones pose a major challenge to the U.S. and its allies and have featured heavily in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Since last fall, Iran-backed groups have used drones, uncrewed surface vessels and anti-ship ballistic vehicles to launch dozens of attacks on U.S., allied and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea. The incidents have disrupted global trade in key waterways and killed three merchant sailors.
According to a June 13 report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, 65 countries and 29 major energy and shipping companies have been affected or have had to alter their routes in response to these aggressions.
DOD officials have said the department is taking a layered approach to defending against enemy drones, meaning the U.S. will pursue a range of capabilities to disable these systems, from electronic warfare to kinetic weapons. The military services have a number of ongoing programs to develop these systems.
Led by the Defense Innovation Unit, Replicator 2 will leverage those existing efforts to help the services field counter-UAS capabilities more quickly and in larger numbers. According to Austin, DIU will work closely with the military services, the Counter Uncrewed Systems Warfighter Senior Integration Group and Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante, who serves as DOD’s C-sUAS principal staff assistant.
“I am confident the Replicator initiative will complement and advance the significant C-sUAS work already underway in the DOD,” Austin said. “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.”
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges.
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