Record-setting drone showcases Army push to build critical parts at home

A small drone powered by motors newly manufactured by the Army set a world endurance record during a recent flight test, marking a step forward in the Pentagon’s effort to build unmanned aircraft with components decoupled from vulnerable foreign supply chains.

The battery-powered Group 1 drone flew for 521 minutes and 43 seconds during a military “Game of Drones” event earlier this summer at Edwards Air Force Base, the Army said in a statement Friday.

The aircraft’s two brushless direct-current motors were among the first produced at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, where the Army opened a new manufacturing line in June.

Noah Benton of Titan Dynamics launches a rapidly produced small unmanned aircraft during a “Game of Drones” event at Edwards Air Force Base, California, July 16, 2026. The Army says the events are meant to show that government depots can produce drone parts on their own while still working alongside commercial developers. (Brandon Hernandez/U.S. Air Force)

The flight comes as the Pentagon is racing to expand domestic production of inexpensive drones and the components that power them. The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and with Iran have highlighted both the growing importance of small, unmanned aircraft and how such systems rely on foreign suppliers for parts.

China dominates aspects of the commercial drone supply chain, creating a potential wartime vulnerability if access to components is cut off during a conflict.

“We must ensure that our wartime supply chains remain available. We cannot become dependent upon adversary-controlled manufacturing,” Air Force Col. Dustin Thomas, commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency’s unmanned systems experimental section, said in the statement.  “To that end, we need components from trusted sources that will continue to exist during conflict.”

The Army historically has relied heavily on private industry to supply components rather than manufacturing them itself, but the service is now pushing to use its network of depots to manufacture drone components domestically.

The tests at Edwards Air Force Base were done to demonstrate that government manufacturing facilities can produce parts independently while also working alongside commercial drone developers, officials said.

“‘Game of Drones’ was proof that industry and the government can work together in creative ways to create exceptional results,” said Jon Strzelec, a leader in Army Materiel Command’s manufacturing section for small, unmanned aircraft systems.