Combating small drones is the top priority for Replicator’s next phase, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who offered a look into the future of the initiative in a September memo.
Replicator is a Department of Defense project designed to accelerate the delivery of novel capabilities to warfighters at speed and scale. Announced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks in August 2023, the program aims to field thousands of autonomous systems to “help us overcome the [People’s Republic of China]’s biggest advantage, which is mass,” DefenseScoop reported.
Hicks, a 2024 Wash100 award recipient, said at the NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference that mass means “more ships, more missiles, more people.”
Learn about key DOD research and development initiatives like Replicator at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 23. Visit the Potomac Officers Club website for more information.
Replicator Demonstrates Success
The Pentagon selected capabilities for accelerated fielding under the first tranche of the initiative, known as Replicator 1, in May. This stage of the program had a $500 million budget for fiscal year 2024 and focused on uncrewed surface vehicles, or USVs; uncrewed aerial systems, or UAVs; and counter-UAVs, among other classified capabilities.
In August, the Defense Innovation Unit and the Navy jointly issued contracts to multiple mid-size, non-traditional and venture-backed companies through the program. Under these awards, the selected organizations will prototype small USVs able to operate in contested environments as robotic swarms.
Along with fielding new technologies, Replicator is meant to identify capability gaps in which the “process can provide the greatest value against our most urgent needs,” Austin, a previous Wash100 awardee, wrote in the memo. Through Replicator 1, leaders identified counter small-uncrewed aerial systems, or C-sUAVs, as an area where the program could “complement and advance” ongoing efforts to develop these technologies across the DOD. According to Hicks, the department will invest another $500 million into Replicator by the end of FY25.
Hicks and Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a previous Wash100 recipient, will work with component leaders to create a Replicator 2 plan to submit to Congress in the FY26 President’s Budget request. Austin hopes that the second tranche of the initiative “will deliver meaningfully improved C-sUAS protection to critical assets within 24 months of Congress approving funding.”
Get exclusive insights into Replicator’s next phase at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Defense R&D Summit. Last year’s edition of the annual event featured Aditi Kumar, deputy director of strategy, policy and national security for the DIU, who revealed that the agency is exploring new acquisition strategies to drive Replicator forward.
This year’s Defense R&D Summit will feature fellow defense technology thought leaders who will come together to weigh in on important initiatives like Replicator. To learn more about the summit and track speaker confirmations as they occur, visit the event page on the Potomac Officers Club website.
You don’t want to miss out on this exciting event, so secure your spot at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit today!
