Print, Crash, Reprint: One-Day Drones for Warfighters

By aerogondo @Adobe Stock

Dustin Thomas, Jordan Atkins, and Peter Dyrud of War on the Rocks report that the U.S. Air Force has the opportunity to revolutionize drone warfare by enabling troops to design, build, and deploy low-cost, mission-specific drones in under 24 hours. Project Black Phoenix has proven the concept works, but outdated policies continue to stall innovation. Meanwhile, Ukraine is setting the pace—reportedly producing thousands of Vampire drones daily and assembling one every 23 seconds—demonstrating the speed and scale needed to dominate modern battlefields. They write:

What if the U.S. Air Force could adapt small, low-cost drones on the battlefield in a single day, and do that each and every day? That reality might be realized sooner than you think, if leaders make the right decisions.

The ongoing war in Ukraine demonstrates the devastating effectiveness of aerial drones. They have been credited with destroying up to 44 percent of Russian tanks and disrupting supply lines, perhaps even changing the character of modern warfare. The U.S. Air Force has not fully capitalized on new drone technologies because of risk-averse policies governing procurement and operations. A Defense Innovation Unit project manager described stakeholders in the drone arena as lacking an “awareness that drones have changed the way war is fought,” with the services “still treating a 3-pound quadcopter like it’s an Apache or a Cobra in almost every single way.” Gen. David W. Allvin, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, recently asserted that “the appearance of drones and the appearance of rapidly replicable, low-cost, mass airborne platforms offers both a threat and an opportunity.” The Air Force has an opportunity to change drone-focused policies, organization, and culture. These changes will empower airmen to seize the advantage on future battlefields.

We set out to develop a practical solution that could empower airmen with adaptable, low-cost airpower at the tactical edge. During our time at the Air Force Center for Strategy and Technology Blue Horizons fellowship, we launched Project Black Phoenix to create a system to enable warfighters to design, build, and fly mission-specific drones in under 24 hours.  […]

Several initial crashes taught us that the internal avionics and payloads were virtually unbreakable in a crash. As needed, we reprinted the outer structure at a cost of $20 to $50 and sent it back up. In true Black Phoenix spirit, even our crashes were learning moments. “We’ll just print another one” became our new motto. Black Phoenix demonstrated the ability to design a drone in minutes, manufacture it in hours, and fly it the same day, providing warfighters an edge in adaptability and operational tempo.

These tests demonstrated not only the production capabilities of the Black Phoenix project but also the shift in operational thinking that needs to occur. Crashing any aircraft, no matter the size, would normally be a significant safety event. However, with an on-demand, extremely inexpensive drone, operators can be unconventional and uninhibited to test new designs. […]

Black Phoenix isn’t just a new way to produce drones — it’s a template for how the Air Force can embrace automation and rapid adaptation to outmaneuver adversaries. To fully leverage this potential, we should act now, reforming policies that prioritize speed, flexibility, and innovation. As seen in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh, those who adapt first shape the battlefield. Delay, on the other hand, can lead to strategic irrelevance.

This approach requires a huge shift in how the military thinks about fielding new capabilities. While there are costs to changing how Americans fight wars, there is little alternative. Black Phoenix proved that we can design, build, and fly a drone in under a day. Yet approval to operate that same drone may take months — an unacceptable mismatch in a rapidly evolving fight. This should change. The United States is at risk of being technologically outmaneuvered by the adversary.

Read more here.

Also, read AIRBORNE CARNAGE: Drones Inflict Devastation on Russian Forces, Can Ukraine Win the War with Its Own Weapons?, Ukraine a Graveyard of Russian Armored Vehicles, SWITCHBLADE: Ukraine Sky’s May Soon be Buzzing with Flying Munitions, Bureaucracy Is Crippling U.S. Drone Innovation, & Tanks Humbled on the Modern Battlefield