"Asymmetric Warfare Boom" Accelerates As US Army Awards Neros $500 Million For FPV Attack Drones

Defense startup Neros has secured a US Army contract valued at up to $500 million to supply the military with Ukraine-style, low-cost attack drones, reinforcing our view that the "Asymmetric Warfare Boom" is now underway.

As we have told readers, the Department of War's massive push to procure inexpensive, attritable autonomous systems, ranging from loitering munitions and ground robots to drone boats, will create a procurement supercycle and investable opportunities across both public markets and privately held defense companies.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the Neros contract, offering more color on the deal:

Now Neros has secured a contract with the Defense Department valued at up to $500 million to supply its drones to the Army, the company said. The contract underscores the Army's push to become a more modern and leaner force by increasing its drone purchases from around 50,000 a year to at least 1 million within around the next two years, Army officials have said.

Neros's contract comes by way of an Army program designed to provide infantry with first-person-view drones. FPV drones, as they are known, are equipped with cameras that transmit real-time video to a headset worn by the pilot, and with explosives that detonate when they crash into targets. Ukraine builds and uses them in enormous quantity, and with great effect, demonstrating to the world how FPVs can function as low-cost suicide bombers.

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Neros may have cracked the code on both fronts. The company said it is building 1,200 drones a week at its facility in Southern California, and has a plan to reach one million drones a year by 2028. It has to be at least that many, Hichwa said, for China to pay attention.

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Public companies flagged by analysts at Piper Sandler as benefiting from the US military's drone procurement cycle include AeroVironment, Ondas, Red Cat, AEVEX, Redwire, Insitu, and Teledyne FLIR, while private names include Anduril, Skydio, Shield AI, Quantum Systems, Performance Drone Works, DZYNE, Firestorm Labs, and Neros.

Read the report here.