SkyForge

SkyForge is Skydio's supplier co-location programme, announced in April 2026 alongside a $3.5 billion five-year US manufacturing investment commitment. The programme invites key component suppliers to establish facilities adjacent to or within Skydio's new factory, which is planned at five times the size of its current facility. Co-location reduces supply-chain latency, improves quality control visibility, and builds the domestic manufacturing depth that the Pentagon's Blue UAS programme requires for supply-chain verification.

Skydio, the California-based autonomous drone company, was sanctioned by China in 2023 after selling drones to Taiwan, and has positioned itself as the leading domestic US alternative to DJI in both commercial and military markets. The SkyForge programme, combined with the new factory scale, is designed to bring Skydio from a specialist reconnaissance platform supplier toward broader armed forces volume delivery .

The $3.5 billion figure spans five years, averaging $700 million annually. This is a commitment, not a contract award, and depends on Skydio securing sufficient government purchase orders to justify the capital deployment. The USAFCENT $9 million contract signed in the same period demonstrates Skydio's progress in building the operational base to support the investment thesis.