The Defense Innovation Unit and the Department of Defense’s acquisition and sustainment office are set to announce the first batch of small unmanned aerial systems that passed a new vetting process for commercial-off-the-shelf drones.
SenseFly‘s eBee Tac drone and other systems underwent a cybersecurity evaluation and a defense funding compliance check to be included in the Blue UAS Cleared List, DIU said Monday.
The list enables the Pentagon and other military organizations to procure or operate cleared sUAS for various missions such as infrastructure inspection and reconnaissance tasks even without securing an DOD exception.
“The Blue UAS Cleared List will provide a common approval standard that can save the Services time and money, inform acquisition policy updates, and make it easier for troops to gain access to previously inaccessible commercial tech,” explained Capt. Shelby Ochs, DIU’s program manager for Blue UAS.
Blue UAS Cleared List systems will be added to an earlier roster of Blue sUAS 1.0 platforms that include commercial ground control stations.
