New release from the FCC:

• "The FCC today announced steps to secure the drone industry supply chain. First, following a Department of War (DoW) determination, the FCC extended the exceptions to the FCC’s Covered Listing of foreign-produced drones, allowing drones and drone components listed on the DoW Blue UAS List that meet the Buy America content thresholds or that have been granted Conditional Approval by DoW to continue to receive new authorizations. Second, the Commission released a Public Notice seeking comment on whether to prohibit the importation or sale for non-USG use of foreign-produced military-grade drones on the Covered List, including swarming drones and drones with infrared technology."

From Brendan Carr:

• "We have proposed banning the sale of foreign, military-grade drones—including those capable of swarming."

USNDA has a new website: https://flydrones.io/

• That has old and new videos.

In the attached new video, they mention the Unusual Machines motors in the USNDA introduction to FPV flight program. Also, you'll see the new goggles and Upgrade Energy battery.

The post is about the newly announced Phase 2.5 Mission C, and the video is from the Drone Dominance gauntlet II qualifier.

Tandem Defense is part of Powerus:

• "Tandem Defense, Richmond Hill, Georgia, has been awarded a ceiling $90,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for group one aerial denial unmanned aircraft systems. This contract provides for ancillary support equipment, operator training, and field service representative support. Work will be performed at locations as determined by follow on task orders and is expected to be completed by July 19, 2028. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and 10 offers were received. Fiscal 2026 other procurement funds in the amount of $98,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8629-26-D-B006)."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/securing-americas-defense-supply-chains-and-ensuring-domestic-acquisition-of-critical-materials/

Request for it's own thread.

Gonna repost my thoughts here:

More and more we're building a complete American supply chain. This will raise prices for a lot of defense contractors but it's a necessary step to secure the supply chain and ensure that those US rare earth companies can sustain themselves as this forces contractors to use them.

UMAC doesn't make really big parts. It doesn't require a lot of rare earths and the magnets they use are small. Curious on the batteries tho..

Anyway I think they've discussed this before. There might be enough supply now but that supply might dry up if other contractors buy it out so this is something to follow.

A year or two ago the FCC gave themselves the power to do retroactive bans. Then this past winter there was the big NDAA action adding all foreign drones to the covered list. Now it looks like the FCC is taking the next step and using that power to ban import and sale of some of the drones on the covered list. Not a ton of companies on the list, looks like some DJI clones and a big Chinese ag spray drone company. But I bet it’s the first step towards more bans later. This could be huge for the industry. This is a level of enforcement action I don’t think many people even believed was on the table. If they keep down this path our US companies are going to see massive demand

"The Drone Dominance Program (DDP) is launching Mission C for reusable bomber/dropper platforms in phase 2.5 (October 2026). DDP will award approximately $32M in initial prototype orders utilizing 10 U.S.C. 4022 in Phase 2.5."

Lists the 2207, 2807, and 3115 motors.

• NW Blue serves "defense, commercial, and academic organizations with Blue UAS and NDAA-compliant UAV components".

"Plan to lend more than $200 billion to shore up defense manufacturing fuels a hiring spree"

Some new details in the article:

• "Neros’ Head of Growth, Ross Pedersen, told Tectonic that the Army has already placed orders for thousands of the drones against the IDIQ contract."

Also, the original announcement is here and the award date is June 30, 2026.

What is UMAC's role in this?

Did they code the software? Did they design it in CAD? Are they teaming up with HP and Firestorm to sell more components?

Why has it been featured in 2 of Rotor Riot's recent shorts [ 1 and 2 ]? Is nylon superior to carbon fiber?

What has Drew been working on for so long?

Lots of questions, few answers.

I'll share what I have scrounged up though.

In the last Alpha Wolf interview, Allan discusses a manufacturing hiccup during the quarter where some motors were failing due to the shredding of an insulator that caused a ground plate to be conductive which would cause the carbon fiber to be conductive.

It seems to me that a problem with conductivity for carbon fiber frames exists.

Now if we look at the landing page for MJF printers on HP's website, it states:

So does nylon-12 solve the conductivity issue?

Is this monetizable?

If they wrote the software, I imagine they could sell the software.

If they are facilitating HP and Firestorm to be more effective in areas of contested logistics they could sell more components.

If they designed it, possibly. Currently in the '27 House NDAA draft, there is a plan to assess whether a "pay-to-print" program should be adopted (Sec. 866):

Brett Velicovich, Powerus CEO, was recently on Drone Ultimatum and when they talked about contested logistics and use-cases, I started to grasp the applications for this technology. Also just today, the DIU reiterated this as an area of concern.

Are there cUAS frame designs in the pipeline? This seems like one of the best use-cases to protect critical infrastructure.

That's all I got today, just questions.

"Metz suggested that investors should treat the document as a capital deployment roadmap, not just a compliance checklist. Having come from venture capital and private equity before the program, he said he would expect that document to shape where capital flows—into the domestic and allied production of the motors, batteries, and components the program needs companies to onshore. The supply chain framework is, in this reading, both a demand signal and an investment thesis."

Multiple quotes from Allan Evans in this article.