- Tobyhanna Army Depot and Darkhive have entered into an agreement for the advanced lifecycle management of sUAS
- The collaboration marks the first time the Title 10 of U.S. Code section 7544 has been executed
- The agreement combines the depot’s manufacturing capabilities with Darkhive’s commercial technologies
The U.S. Army announced Wednesday that aerospace and defense tech firm Darkhive has entered into a cooperative agreement with Tobyhanna Army Depot, the military branch’s center of excellence for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as electronics, avionics and missile guidance and control.
The agreement pairs TYAD’s manufacturing infrastructure with Darkhive’s commercial technology capabilities to support Department of War efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity and military readiness requirements. The partnership will focus on expedited development, production and sustainment of small-unmanned aircraft systems.
What Is the Significance of TYAD and Darkhive’s Agreement?
The arrangement represents the first time TYAD has used the authority provided under Title 10 of U.S. Code section 7544, which allows a working capital-funded Army industrial facility to partner with a non-Army entity on a military or commercial project.
The agreement follows the Army’s Organic Industrial Base Transformation Strategy, which was signed in April 2026 to shift depots, arsenals and ammunition plants away from a fragmented, maintenance-centered model toward a strategically aligned industrial system designed to deliver combat-ready formations during competition or conflict.
What Are the Roles of TYAD and Darkhive in the Partnership?
Under the agreement, TYAD will make its infrastructure available to manufacture parts and industry-standard products for government use. TYAD will also be responsible for sustainment services.
Darkhive personnel will be permitted to lease and operate within TYAD’s equipment and production capacity to advance sUAS technology research. Darkhive’s operations are expected to generate working capital funds for the depot.
What Is TYAD?
Aside from being recognized as the U.S. Army’s Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for C4ISR, Pennsylvania-based TYAD is also known as the U.S. Air Force Technology Repair center for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence and tactical missiles. Its operations have supported U.S. forces in Iran and Afghanistan, through the production of survival radios, satellite communications and Blue force tracking. TYAD is the depot source of repair for the Army’s common remotely operated weapons station, as well as for the Gray Eagle (MQ-1C) UAS ground control stations used by the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy.
What Is Darkhive?
TYAD’s partner, Darkhive, is a defense technology company focused on building hardware and software designed to integrate into the modern battlefield, ranging from tactical uncrewed systems to human-machine interfaces and software continuous delivery platforms. Darkhive’s team includes military veterans, defense technologists, manufacturing and supply chain specialists, and public policy experts.
On the hardware side, the company develops NDAA-compliant, cost-effective uncrewed systems that are paired with software for human-machine interfacing and multi-agent autonomous mission execution, which connects directly into the Team Awareness Kit to give military personnel a familiar and accessible user experience. Darkhive also offers an accredited edge device management platform that allows systems to be securely updated and adapted to changing battlefield conditions in a matter of hours rather than months.
