Every GovConFeed story on Defense Innovation Unit — contract awards, policy, enforcement, and protests, newest first.
The Defense Innovation Unit's Bridge Program is piloting a three-year Top Secret clearance experiment, a prime-led effort to clear up to 20 small firms in 150 days, and portable SCIFs to break the facility-clearance catch-22 that keeps nontraditional contractors out of classified programs.
Read the story →The Navy added $150 million to Shield AI's X-BAT other transaction agreement, matched by $150 million of company capital, bringing commitments to $400 million. The first full-scale prototype is weeks from completion, with VTOL flight tests set to begin by year's end.
A Hegseth memo dated Sept. 28 orders Pentagon reviewers to treat delays on counter-drone requests as operational risk, names JIATF-401 the C-UAS synchronization point, orders a 30-day spectrum review and seeks a single ATO process cutting timelines from months to days or weeks.
Defense Secretary Hegseth announced a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command with service-like authorities to scale drones, AI and robotics across the joint force. A memo sets Oct. 1, 2027 for stand-up, pending Congress and unanswered structure questions.
DIU issued a July 7 solicitation for a Massed Modular Aircraft, a long-range drone built to be lost in combat, after Iran shot down nearly 30 MQ-9A Reapers during Operation Epic Fury.
A new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems now controls funding, contracting and fielding decisions for every drone program across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force, reporting directly to the deputy secretary of war.
A Department of War memo names a single portfolio manager, DRPM-UxS, as the joint integrator for nearly all Pentagon unmanned and autonomous programs, dual-hatting JIATF-401 and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group under it while keeping DIU as the industry interface, and reporting straight to the Deputy Secretary.
DIU selected Mach Industries, Shield AI, and AeroVironment on June 16, 2026 to develop runway-independent maritime strike drones under the RIMES program. Mach Industries' Atlas drone targets 1,400 nm range and 1,000-lb payload from Arleigh Burke destroyers.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach confirmed September 2026 production start for the Family of Affordable Mass Missiles, with FY2026 funding already covering the first 1,000 rounds and a five-year plan to procure nearly 28,000 weapons.
The Defense Innovation Unit added $159 million to its Hermeus Quarterhorse contract, bringing the ceiling to $219 million, as the Mach-3 drone program officially pivots from a test asset to a weapon platform ahead of Mk 2.2 flight tests in 2026.
Other Transaction Authority agreements grew from $1.8B in FY16 to over $18B in FY24. The FY26 NDAA expands Commercial Solutions Openings to all commercial products and services, and eliminates the written-determination requirement above $10M. A real non-FAR path for firms that find FAR procurement impossible.
The Defense Innovation Unit operates with $979 million in FY2026 funding, 60-90 day award cycles, and a 51% transition rate from prototype to production. For commercial firms that can't survive traditional FAR procurement, DIU is often the only realistic federal entry.
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