Skycutter
London drone startup that won the Pentagon's first Drone Dominance Gauntlet with a 99.3/100 score.
Last refreshed: 30 March 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How did a London startup beat US defence giants at their own game?
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- Who won the Pentagon's Drone Dominance competition?
- London-based Skycutter scored 99.3 out of 100 in the first Gauntlet, finishing 11.8 points ahead of runner-up Neros.Source: background
- What is Skycutter?
- A London drone startup that partnered with Ukrainian firm SkyFall to win the Pentagon's first Drone Dominance Gauntlet using a modified Shrike 10 Fiber FPV drone.Source: background
- How many drones did the Pentagon order from Skycutter?
- Skycutter received the largest initial order of 2,500 units from a planned $150 million procurement of 30,000 one-way attack drones.Source: quick_facts
- How did a British company beat US defence contractors?
- Evaluators had only two hours of training per platform before simulated combat scenarios. Skycutter's Shrike 10 Fiber, built on battle-tested Ukrainian FPV design, proved easier to operate and more effective than established alternatives.Source: background
- What drone did Skycutter use in the Gauntlet?
- A modified Shrike 10 Fiber produced by Ukrainian partner SkyFall, controlled via a 12.4-mile fibre-optic tether that makes it immune to electronic jamming.Source: quick_facts
Background
Skycutter scored 99.3 out of 100 in the Pentagon's first Drone Dominance Gauntlet at Fort Moore, Georgia, finishing 11.8 points ahead of runner-up Neros. The winning platform was a modified Shrike 10 Fiber FPV drone, produced by Ukrainian partner SkyFall, controlled via a 12.4-mile fibre-optic tether. Skycutter placed first in long-distance strike and second in urban strike.
The result is significant because evaluators received only two hours of training per platform before executing simulated combat scenarios, and Skycutter still dominated a field of more than two dozen competitors including established US defence contractors. As the top finisher, Skycutter received the largest initial order of 2,500 units from a planned $150 million procurement of 30,000 one-way attack drones.
The Skycutter-SkyFall partnership represents a model where battle-tested Ukrainian drone design meets Western commercialisation, creating a procurement pathway that bypasses Ukraine's wartime export ban through licensed production.