Pentagon turns Replicator focus to C-sUAS capabilities

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the Replicator 2 initiative will focus on counter-small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) technologies.

Replicator is a Department of Defense (DoD) effort charged with “accelerating delivery of innovative capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale through senior leader focus on solving a specific operational challenge”. Replicator 1, launched in August 2023, focused on all-domain attritable autonomous systems. Austin said Replicator 1 is on track with the initiative’s fielding plan for summer 2025.

“The Department has been clear about applying Replicator’s focus to other capability areas, and the Department has been working for several months to assess validated joint capability gaps to determine where the Replicator process can provide the greatest value against our most urgent needs,” the Defense Secretary said. “As a result of that assessment, I have determined that Replicator 2 will tackle the warfighter priority of countering the threat posed by small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) to our most critical installations and force concentrations.”

The DoD already has several C-sUAS efforts underway and Replicator is expected to advance those and assist with overcoming challenges in the areas of production capacity, technology innovation, authorities, policies, open system architecture and system integration, and force structure. For example, Replicator 2 will leverage the work of the Counter Uncrewed Systems Warfighter Senior Integration Group.

Replicator provides the commercial sector with a ‘demand signal’ that allows companies to make investments in building capacity, strengthening both the supply chain and the industrial base. The initiative does not introduce new standards, but provides a partnership between the government and vendors to ensure secure supply chains to mitigate risk through existing technical solutions.

“My expectation is that Replicator 2 will deliver meaningfully improved C-sUAS protection to critical assets within 24 months of Congress approving funding,” Austin said. 

The Director of the Defense Innovation Unit, as the Chair of the Defense Innovation Working Group, will serve as the Office of Primary Responsibility for Replicator 2, working in collaboration with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, who serves as DoD’s C-sUAS Principal Staff Assistant. The individual military departments are largely responsible for the development, production, and fielding of capabilities related to the Replicator 2 effort.