Who won the Pentagon's Drone Dominance competition?: Skycutter, a London-based startup partnered with Ukrainian firm SkyFall, won Gauntlet I with a score of 99.3 out of 100 at Fort Moore, Georgia, beating more than two dozen competitors including established US defence contractors.Source: event
What is Skycutter?: Skycutter is a London-based drone startup that won the Pentagon's first Drone Dominance Gauntlet in 2026, partnered with Ukrainian firm SkyFall to produce the Shrike 10 Fiber FPV drone.Source: event
How many drones did the Pentagon order from Skycutter?: Skycutter received an initial order of 2,500 units as the top Gauntlet I finisher, from a planned $150 million procurement of 30,000 one-way attack drones.Source: event
How did a British company beat US defence contractors?: Skycutter beat US incumbents by deploying a combat-proven Ukrainian FPV drone design (the SkyFall Shrike 10 Fiber) with fibre-optic control, which evaluators could operate effectively after just two hours of training.Source: event
What drone did Skycutter use in the Gauntlet?: Skycutter used a modified Shrike 10 Fiber FPV drone, produced by Ukrainian partner SkyFall, controlled via a 12.4-mile fibre-optic Tether.Source: event

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. For Phase 2, a Ukrainian firm is competing as Skycutter's partner in Stage 1 of the Gauntlet, which runs 8-20 June 2026 at Camp Grayling, Michigan.

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.

How the World Sees Them

Pentagon

Validated that allied startups can outperform incumbents in rapid drone procurement competitions.

UK defence industry

Proof that British firms can compete for major US military drone contracts.

Ukrainian manufacturers

Demonstrates export pathway via Western partners despite wartime export ban.