United States Department of War contracting can be as easy as finding a customer. Oh, wait, hey buddy, aren’t you my customer?
For reference, I recalled that AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) sponsored a drone contest back in 2011 with a prize of between $375,000 and $400,000 for a drone that could take off and land on a carrier. Adjusted for inflation, that is around $595,273.19 in today’s money.
AI synopsis of the DDP
The Drone Dominance Program (DDP) Gauntlet is a multi-phase military procurement competition hosted by the U.S. War Department (formerly DoD) and managed via the Defense Innovation Unit. Its goal is to rapidly test, score, and buy over 200,000 low-cost, domestically manufactured small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) by 2027.
Bootstrapping a technology company in the K-shaped economic climate is next to impossible. This raises a few low-hanging or windfall questions: where is the money coming from, and where is the supply chain? Is it a bluewashed product from China? If you have any doubts about Chinese influence, you might be in denial.
Let’s do the DD math. The DoW has a current price target of $5000 but wants to get it down to $3000 by 2027. Supply Chain Migration Table has some lofty goals for August of 2027. Go ahead, throw the pony on there!
Okay, so, you get the team ready to roll on down to throw the Gauntlet 1 town with your 20 R&D drones. We’ll use the $5000 price point for this exercise. We can't include the full cost of sales for items still in the process of finding a customer. A safe assumption is roughly $100,000 right there. Let’s work the budget for taking the circus on the road to beautiful Camp Grayling, Michigan. Three or four folks x airfare, clown car rentals, gas, food, libations, salaries, per diem ($178/day) add up to a princely sum. I’m going with a $7500 to $10,000 set aside on Mom’s credit card.
Throwdown to Gauntlet II town requires 6 drones (inert payloads and ancillary equipment needed), and if you advance it, it nets you a total of $150,000 and does not include the cost of drones needed for participation. Location is at 6500′ at Fort Carson, Colorado, at a veritable bargain at $168/day per diem.
I am hoping that we can use this as getting over our skis lessons (teachable moment in the parlance of our time) we learned from Agility Prime and Replicator early. It is not that these were unworthy efforts but viable fall guys are getting harder to find.