Counter-drone systems included in DOD’s initial Replicator selections
The Pentagon’s first tranche of systems for its secretive Replicator initiative includes counter-drone assets in addition to different-sized unmanned surface vessels and loitering munitions, DefenseScoop has learned.
Since unveiling the effort in August 2023, Defense Department leadership has declined to publicly identify specific Replicator-enabling systems and programs. But broadly, it all marks the U.S. military’s new and ambitious plan to counter China’s military buildup by fielding thousands of “autonomous” systems across multiple warfighting domains by August 2025.
To do so, the department intends to spend approximately $1 billion total in the fiscal 2024-2025 time frame.
Selections for these products are being made in different tranches. The first tranche — dubbed “Replicator 1.1” — includes more mature types of technologies.
In January, DOD officials revealed that the initial tranche of Replicator systems had been officially picked from a cache of competing proposals submitted by teams across the enterprise. DefenseScoop was the first to subsequently report in February that Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones were among that first set of systems chosen to be mass-produced via Replicator.
Several officials familiar with the Pentagon’s Replicator 1.1 selections who spoke to DefenseScoop in recent conversations on the condition of anonymity shared new information about what can essentially be considered four “buckets” of technology systems set to be accelerated for military use in this first tranche of the initiative.
They confirmed that the Switchblade 600s loitering munitions, made by AeroVironment, were picked for Replicator in association with Army Program Executive Office Soldier’s Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program.
Counter-drone capabilities make up another set of assets selected for the Replicator 1.1 tranche. According to the officials, Anduril’s Wide-Area Infrared System for Persistent Surveillance (WISP) technology was tapped for ramped-up production, in association with efforts put forth by the Marine Corps’ Ground Based Air Defense program.
The company’s website states that WISP supplies artificial intelligence-enabled “passive, full-motion, 360-degree wide-area high-quality imaging to enable persistent automated threat detection and situational awareness.”
“WISP can be adapted to different applications across a variety of domains and mission sets. Leveraging the same underlying technology, WISP brings its capabilities to land, sea, and air applications, providing support to missions such as border and base security, counter drone missions, and maritime surface threat detection,” it notes.
The two other “buckets” selected in this first leg of the Replicator initiative involve a variety of different form factors of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and interceptors that operate at various ranges. Officials asked DefenseScoop to withhold some details about these systems, citing operational security concerns. However, they verified that the Defense Innovation Unit will select small USVs and collaborative intercept capabilities through a recently closed DIU Prime solicitation to enable Replicator 1.1.
Separately, USV systems and interceptors affiliated with a Navy Special Warfare and Office of Naval Research program, among others, were also proposed and selected as part of this first-round Replicator tranche.
The Pentagon did not provide comment before publication.
Meanwhile, DOD officials are finalizing proposals for the second tranche, known as Replicator 1.2. The Army’s acquisition chief recently told DefenseScoop that the service is proposing three systems for that round, although he declined to name them.
