A Ukrainian drone company advanced in the Pentagon's $1.1 billion drone competition. Defense-tech General Chereshnia is one of numerous firms selected for the second round of the US Drone Dominance Program (DDP).
This is a Pentagon initiative seeking producers of inexpensive, scalable strike drones for the US Army amid the war against Iran.
The DDP, implemented by the US Department of War, entered its second round based on evaluations conducted at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 February 2026. The advancement places General Chereshnia within the smaller second-stage pool competing for a final selection of approximately five Pentagon suppliers.
Pentagon assessed both drone performance and US production capability
Twenty-five companies from around the world participated in the first round, each given 2 hours to demonstrate their solutions to US military personnel, according to UNIAN.
Then they operated the drones themselves to evaluate target detection, target tracking, target engagement, deployment time, accuracy, and other technical parameters. The Pentagon also considered each company's ability to deploy production within the US.
Nearly 80 drone systems to undergo evaluation at Michigan military testing site
The advancing companies will present their systems at Camp Grayling in Michigan, with approximately 78 unique drones to be evaluated across two categories — Long Range Strike and tactical UAVs for confined-space operations.
Later DDP rounds will test resilience against electronic warfare countermeasures, navigation loss, environmental conditions, including altitude and temperature extremes, and the engagement of more complex and moving targets.
What is at stake?
The fourth and final stage will select approximately five suppliers, all of whom will receive Pentagon orders, according to the program's published materials.
The Pentagon framed the program as a response to drone warfare, changing the character of modern combat, driving US Army interest in accessible unmanned systems that can be rapidly scaled and integrated into upcoming defense programs.
General Chereshnia's advancement places one Ukrainian drone manufacturer within the final-round pool of contenders for US Army contracts in a program structured around exactly the operational characteristics — low cost, scalability, and combat resilience — that Ukrainian drone makers have spent four years iterating under fire.
