Our coverage of America's Group 1 to Group 3 drone industry has centered on Unusual Machines and Ondas, two companies positioned to reap the benefits from what could become a historic procurement cycle next year. The catalyst is the Department of War's Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, which is preparing to direct $55 billion toward autonomous systems. If that spending materializes as planned, companies offering NDAA-compliant drones and drone components, scalable manufacturing capacity, and field-ready platforms should be best positioned to capture the coming flood of orders.
For more clarity on the drone space, Canaccord Genuity recently hosted the "Drone Dominion" panel, which included executives from AeroVironment, Leonardo DRS, Unusual Machines, Codan Tactical Communications, and Juno Industries.
"The panel opened with a consensus that drone warfare has shifted from individual aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications to massed, expendable strike systems with growing remote autonomy," Austin Moeller, Canaccord Genuity's senior aerospace and defense technology equity-research analyst, wrote in a note Thursday.
Moeller's summary of the panel discussion provides investors with a useful framework for understanding the drone space and identifying the companies best positioned to benefit from a potential procurement supercycle, as demand for Group 1 to Group 3 drones, counter-UAS systems, and domestically sourced NDAA-compliant parts is poised to accelerate.
Drone dominion
We hosted management of Leonardo DRS (DRS), AeroVironment (AVAV), Unusual Machines (UMAC), Codan DTC, and Juno Industries at the 46th Annual Canaccord Genuity Growth Conference in Boston for a Drone/C-UAS panel discussion. Our panel included Leonardo DRS CEO John Baylouny, AeroVironment COO Dr. Robert Smith, Unusual Machines COO Drew Camden, Codan Tactical Communications President and Executive General Manager Paul Sangster, and former Canadian Minister of National Defense and Juno Industries Executive Chairman, Harjit Sajjan. The panel discussed how drone warfare has evolved from being primarily an ISR platform to widespread adoption as autonomous and expendable/attritable tactical and one-way attack systems, along with the corresponding urgent need for counter-UAS layered air defenses, secure supply chains, and integrated battlefield C2 systems and AI edge compute.
The panel opened with a consensus that drone warfare has shifted from individual aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications to massed, expendable strike systems with growing remote autonomy. John Baylouny stated that drones are now weapons that must make sense of the battlefield, and Harjit Sajjan emphasized that integrating sensors into battle management systems to enable fusion/processing of data is central to making those strike capabilities practical and useful. The panel agreed this transition changes not only platform design but also how forces employ drones; for instance, moving from a handful of high-end assets to large numbers of lower-cost munitions used en masse (swarms) to saturate and overwhelm air defenses and targets. This dynamic forces the industry to prioritize rapid iteration and high-volume manufacturing, modular payloads, and mission-tailored autonomy so systems can be adopted and modified quickly as tactics and countermeasures evolve in the field.
The panel agreed that battlefield advantage now depends on resilient, secure command-and-control (C2) networks that connect drones, sensors, weapons platforms, and operators into rapid decision-making workflows. Paul Sangster explained that today's battlefield is far more networked, requiring secure mesh communications that tie drones, sensors, and vehicles into rapid decision loops. Dr. Rob Smith and the others noted that the tactical advantage now comes from how quickly collected sensor data can be communicated to warfighters and platforms and acted upon, which has elevated architecture, encryption, and waveform design to operational-level priorities. The panel emphasized that interoperability is a prerequisite for scaling effective multi-platform operations. Speakers warned that contested-spectrum environments and adversary cyber-attack tactics could quickly degrade the benefits of massed drone operations unless resilience and redundancy are built into C2 designs.
Counter-UAS defenses being layered and multi-modal were stressed by the panel. Mr. Baylouny described systems combining radar, IR identification, and multiple effectors (e.g., DRS' Sgt. Stout Stryker air artillery Mission Equipment Package). Dr. Smith outlined a layered approach beginning with Radio Frequency (RF) detection and Electronic Warfare (EW) at standoff ranges, then lasers for cost-effective engagement within line-of-sight, and kinetic interceptors when necessary. Speakers emphasized mobility and integrated C2 so that different defeat mechanisms can be applied as threats evolve, reflecting a pragmatic view that no single technology will defeat every class of drone. As a result, the defense tech market is making investments in software/AI platforms, sensors (radar, RF, EO, IR/thermal), directed energy, and affordable kinetic interceptors to create adaptable defense mechanisms for various defensive scenarios for both point-defense and on-the-move.
Drew Camden and Rob Smith argued that expanding domestic production capacity requires predictable govt. demand and long-term procurement commitments. Manufacturers depend on these factors so that they can invest in facilities, automation, and long-term supplier relationships.
They stated that US systems will likely differ in capability from mass-produced foreign drones (Ukrainian drones are using Chinese Raspberry Pis and motors, for example) and that programs like Drone Dominance must create steady, multi-year volume procurement plans such as IDIQs/OTAs to make rapid scaling feasible without stopping and restarting fragile supply chains. Firms are already redirecting R&D and IRAD into domestic tooling and manufacturing readiness to shorten the timeline from prototype to fielded production and advance-purchasing materials inventory for when multi-year contracts are in place, and demand is present. In practice, policymakers must align procurement, financing, and industrial policy to reduce production ramp-up time, reduce lead times for critical components, and stabilize the supply chain.
Speakers raised concerns about deep supply chain and security/espionage concerns. The panel discussed challenges in removing Chinese-made components and subcomponents, as well as securing rare earth materials, noting that compliance requires tracing multiple layers down the supply chain. Many A&D primes have found Chinese materials or components as they investigate deeper into their supply chains. Mr. Sajjan cautioned against focusing on a single supplier or country and urged comprehensive evaluation with trusted national agencies, while Mr. Baylouny described efforts internally to look five or six layers deep to discover where materials and components truly originate from. Mr. Camden explained his company's strategy of bringing parts, and eventually, chips and motors onshore. He added that while Unusual Machines had initially been sourcing drone motors from China, the company is now doing its own winding with machines in a similar production process to Chinese drone company T-MOTOR. Dr. Smith emphasized the importance of firmware screening, cyber red-teaming, and holistic assurance practices. Addressing these challenges will require sustained funding, clearer regulatory standards (e.g., NDAA and ITAR), and closer public-private partnerships to create resilience and chain of custody among supply chains.
Finally, the panel emphasized that training and acquisition practices must be reformed to keep pace with evolving drone tactics and technologies. Mr. Baylouny argued that the old "design, build, and buy thousands" government PoR model is too slow and called for experiment-driven acquisition. Mr. Sajjan highlighted the importance of close user-developer feedback so deployed troops can refine and optimize systems with their designers for real-world missions. Mr. Camden pointed to improvised civilian and government innovations seen in Ukraine as evidence that militaries must be able to adapt new concepts and strategies quickly. Dr. Smith reinforced that predictable demand signals will also enable investment in the training, sustainment, and industrial pipelines needed to scale manufacturing capabilities. To turn technological advances into enduring operational advantage, the panel concluded that reforms across procurement and training must move forward along with technical, military, and industrial initiatives.
Our mid-June initiation report, "How To Profit From the Asymmetric Warfare Boom" ...
... first identified the leading public and private companies positioned across the drone and counter-drone space.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 21:35Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times,
While universities debate whether to skip standardized admissions tests and the University of Michigan waives first-term grades for some incoming students, new research suggests that relaxing standards might not be the best way to help kids who are struggling in school.
A science teacher works with her students at a high school in Homestead, Fla., on March 10, 2017. Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty ImagesThe new report by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and the American Enterprise Institute, based on data collected from grade school students by the National Survey of Children’s Health, focused on how kids performed in school and what they said about their home life. The report found that “family structure is a more powerful predictor of school problems, academic performance, and depression than are race and poverty.”
The Department of Education’s Nation’s Report Card sorts results by race, sex or income, but it ignores family structures even though it has been collecting data on that factor since 2013, researchers said.
By contrast, the report looked at “whether or not kids are being raised by their own mother and father,” IFS Senior Fellow Brad Wilcox said, and they found that family structure was often a more important factor in children’s well-being.
“It’s pretty clear that the character of the family you grew up in is more important than the color of your skin,” Wilcox told The Epoch Times.
The study reported that 74 percent of children from “intact, married-parent families” achieved top grades (As and Bs), compared with 60 percent of children from “other family structures.” In addition, the IFS stated that children who were not raised by both biological parents were 47 percent more likely to have disciplinary problems at school and more than twice as likely to be depressed.
“Raising children in a stable married family is incredibly helpful to kids,” Wilcox said.
Graduating Without Basic SkillsThe IFS’s findings come at a time when data increasingly indicates that many American children are struggling in school, and looking at grades may not even show the full picture. Reports and anecdotes suggest that even among students who receive passing grades, many are not learning basic skills.
The National Literacy Institute reports that 64 percent of America’s fourth graders do not read proficiently, and more than half of American adults now read below a sixth-grade level. And statewide reports are indicating that grade school children are being passed on to the next grade, or graduating, regardless of whether or not they have basic reading and math skills.
In 2023, Baltimore City schools announced that they would “avoid the punitive approach of failing students,” citing effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. This followed a 2021 report by the state of Maryland, which said that across the state, “approximately half of the students who graduated high school and enrolled in a Maryland college or university in 2013 were assessed to need remediation in math, English, and/or reading.”
Studies in Texas, Alabama, and Missouri over the past two decades showed similar findings.
A 2025 report from the University of California-San Diego stated that the math skills of one-in-12 incoming students were below a middle school level. More recently, University of California-Berkeley mathematics professor Zvezdelina Stankova said in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard that she had to pause her calculus course in order to teach her students middle-school level algebra and fractions.
In many cases, the response from schools has been to accommodate a lack of basic skills by loosening assessment tests, or getting rid of them altogether. Currently, more than 2,000 colleges and universities, including some Ivy League and state universities, do not require standardized tests like the SAT and the ACT as a criterion for admission.
In a possible case of “grade inflation,” Harvard University reported that 60 percent of the grades given to students in 2024–25 were As, up from about 25 percent in 2005–06. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts announced that starting in the fall of 2027, it would refrain from giving grades to incoming students during their first term, in order to “curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals.”
Family StructureAccording to Wilcox, focusing on family structures is likely a better solution than inflating or avoiding grades. He advocates, among other things, making Americans aware of the difference it makes to kids’ success when both parents are raising them in a stable home.
“Not every couple who are having kids should get married and not every couple who are married should stay married,” Wilcox said. “But it’s important when it comes to having and raising kids to do what you can to be married and to stay married.”
In an effort to keep parents together, some advocates have called for the removal of what they call the “marriage penalty,” which occurs when two individuals with similar incomes marry, pushing their joint income to a level that exceeds welfare eligibility.
“Marriage penalties are one of the most damaging and misguided features of the federal welfare system,” said Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) in a statement. “For decades, Washington has punished families for getting married, discouraging responsibility and trapping parents and children in long-term dependency.”
Based on federal data, the IFS states that only 3 percent of subsidized housing serves two adults with children, compared with 30 percent that goes to a female head with children.
The IFS report states that family trends in America are tilting in a slightly positive direction, however. The proportion of American children living in married families hit a low point of 64 percent in 2012, and has since increased to 66 percent as of 2024.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 21:00Once known primarily for capturing dramatic footage from inside hurricanes and tropical storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, Saildrone's autonomous surface vessels have evolved into dual-use platforms that recently demonstrated the ability to deploy Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM).
California-based Saildrone revealed in a press release that its unmanned surface vehicle (USV) launched two Lockheed Martin JAGM missiles for the first time during the Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii.
According to Saildrone, the 20-meter Surveyor drone participated in the live-fire exercise in coordination with the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.
The Surveyor used targeting data on a surrogate high-speed surface craft and executed the engagement through the Navy's Adjunct Remote Engagement System, or ARES, a remotely operated combat system. The test demonstrated how drone vessels could supplement the missile capacity of carrier strike groups while remaining deployed in contested waters, such as the Strait of Hormuz or other maritime chokepoints, for extended periods.
"This successful live-fire demonstration was the result of pairing one of the most tried and trusted munitions with the most operationally deployed class of USV on the planet," Saildrone CEO Richard Jenkins wrote in a statement.
Jenkins noted, "Not only does this deliver mission-ready, kinetic USV capability today, but it also de-risks and accelerates our journey of fitting more sophisticated kinetic capabilities, like the Mk70 launcher, to our larger platform, the Saildrone Specter. Saildrone will continue to develop our platform capabilities to meet the rapidly evolving operational requirements of our customers."
The US Navy has adopted the drone-boat warfare playbook pioneered by Ukraine, recently deploying Saronic Corsair one-way attack drone boats near the Strait of Hormuz to target Iran's Bandar Abbas naval base.
More importantly, drone-boat operations and live-fire testing signal what could be a massive Department of War procurement supercycle spanning unmanned surface vessels and Group 1 through Group 3 aerial drones.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 20:25