FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Skycutter and SkyFall Partnership Tops Pentagon Drone Dominance Gauntlet
SkyFall’s Shrike 10-F achieves the highest score among 27 teams during testing in the United States
Partnership and Achievement
Ukrainian technology-defence company SkyFall partnered with British company Skycutter to deploy a technical joint task force to Fort Benning that achieved first place in Drone Dominance program, organized by the Department of War.
The Shrike 10F, a 10-inch fiber-optic FPV drone developed and manufactured by SkyFall, with the Skycutter team providing the necessary logistics and engineering support during the Gauntlet. Shrike demonstrated the best performance among all contestants during Drone Dominance Gauntlet testing, scoring 99.3 out of a possible 100 points.
Competition Overview
A total of 27 teams participated in the program, including leading international companies in the defence and unmanned technology sector, such as Neros, Auterion, PDW, Kratos, and others.
Testing Location and Conditions
Testing took place at Fort Benning Georgia, where U.S. military operators evaluated each system in scenarios designed to replicate real combat conditions. Operators received just two hours of system familiarisation, and less than ten minutes of flight training per pilot, before flying Gauntlet missions. Five different operators successfully completed each Gauntlet mission with the Shrike 10-F.
Operational Evaluation Criteria
During the evaluation, systems were tested across several operational parameters, including:
- Accuracy and reliability of target engagement
- Video and C2 link resilience across Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) missions
- Performance within dense urban environments, including inside buildings.
- Execution of missions with explosive payloads
SkyFall Leadership Statement
This victory confirms that Ukrainian technologies, tested in real combat conditions, are now becoming the global standard. Shrike 10-F is the answer to the challenges of modern warfare, where guaranteed and stable communication is often the decisive factor for mission success,” said SkyFall Leadership
Skycutter Leadership Statement
Skycutter has built its reputation on delivering solutions that enable mission success,” said Skycutter leadership. “Partnering with SkyFall to modify and deploy the Shrike 10-F ahead of the Gauntlet has been a strong collaboration, and its performance has reinforced that reputation on the global stage.
Drone Dominance Program
The Drone Dominance program is being conducted for the first time with the aim of identifying unmanned systems capable of effectively performing combat missions under modern battlefield conditions and scaling production to meet the needs of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The total budget of the program is $1.1 billion across multiple phases. Phase one is funded with $150 million, with contracts expected to be distributed among 11 selected vendors.
About SkyFall
SkyFall is a Ukrainian technology-defence company with extensive research and development capabilities and large-scale production lines for unmanned systems.
The company designs and manufactures the legendary Vampire heavy bomber drone,multipurpose FPV kamikaze Shrike drones, available in multiple configurations, and the P1-Sun interceptor, actively used against Shahed drones and other aerial threats, where it has proved particularly effective.
SkyFall also operates SkyFall Academy, which has trained more than 20,000 pilots, technicians and instructors to operate and maintain its unmanned systems.
Media Enquiries: marketing@skyfall.ua
About Skycutter
Skycutter, headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Kyiv and the United States, is an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) design and manufacturer serving both Commercial and Defence customers.
Skycutter’s mission is to push the boundaries of unmanned systems by developing, testing and validating cutting-edge sovereign technologies that increases mission success for the warfighter.
Media Enquiries: info@skycutteruas.co.uk