US seeks containerized launcher to deploy massive drone swarms

The US Department of Defense, through its Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), has issued a solicitation for a containerized drone launcher system designed to store, recharge, launch, recover, and refit large swarms of autonomous drones with minimal human intervention. This initiative, known as the Containerized Autonomous Drone Delivery System (CADDS), aims to overcome current limitations posed by the one-to-one operator-to-drone model, which restricts deployment speed and scale while increasing operator risk. The system must be capable of rapid setup and breakdown within minutes, operate in all weather conditions and times of day, and support a variety of drone types simultaneously, both homogeneous and heterogeneous. This development aligns with the US Army’s recent announcement to acquire at least one million drones over the next two to three years as part of its broader Drone Dominance Program, which also includes a billion-dollar investment to procure hundreds of thousands of kamikaze drones by 2028. The CADDS program seeks to enhance the military’s ability to