WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A battery-powered small unmanned aircraft system has recently shattered a world endurance record, flying for more than eight hours in the desert heat - a milestone achieved using critical propulsion components assembled by the U.S. Army's organic industrial base.
During the Game of Drones 26-2 demonstration at Edwards Air Force Base, California, last month, two brushless direct current motors assembled at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania, successfully powered a Group 1 small UAS to a record-breaking flight time of eight hours, 41 minutes and 43 seconds. The aircraft flew for approximately 300 miles before safely landing, surpassing the previous record by 50 minutes.
The small drone performance data from Edwards Air Force Base has been officially submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for verification.
The record-breaking flight represents a major milestone for Army Materiel Command and its efforts to build secure, domestic supply chains for critical defense technologies. The demonstration served as the first major outdoor operational test of the Tobyhanna-assembled motors on an active aircraft.
Rapid, collaborative on-site manufacturing made the achievement possible. The drone was designed in less than 10 minutes using computer prompts via adaptability software, the Pentagon said. Within 24 hours of takeoff, the aircraft was fabricated inside a mobile containerized production factory using commercial 3D printers, integrated with the Tobyhanna brushless motors and a battery from an industry partner and assembled on-site by a three-person team.
The event, sponsored by the Defense Contract Management Agency blue list team, highlighted a strategic shift toward domestic production. By establishing manufacturing capabilities within the Army's organic industrial base, the service is working to eliminate foreign dependencies for critical parts.
'This is a huge milestone for AMC and Tobyhanna, considering the fact that we just cut the ribbon on the new brushless motor line on June 30,' said Jon Strzelec, the AMC advanced manufacturing lead for small UAS.
AMC recently began transforming the organic industrial base to produce and assemble various critical small UAS components, including frames at Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Illinois, and batteries at Red River Army Depot, Texas.
A key focus of this initiative is developing organic industrial base capabilities to help government, industry and academic partners secure Defense Contract Management Agency approval for systems and components to be included on the blue list. The blue list is an aggregated reference portal of compliant, cybersecure and U.S.-manufactured UAS platforms and components, facilitating safer, faster procurement for defense users.
AMC is already seeing positive results through this initiative, having sent small drones that the organic industrial base fully assembled to several Army units for use in training events.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
