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U.S. Air Force Central Secures $270 Million Contract for Solar-Powered ISR Drones
U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT) has awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at up to $270 million to Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, a California-based company. The contract is for the provision of the company’s KH1000ULE, an ultra-long-range, solar-powered drone capable of sustained flights of up to 75 hours.
This single-source IDIQ contract provides AFCENT with flexibility, allowing the service to procure the necessary quantity of KH1000ULE drones over an open timeline, up to the specified $270 million financial threshold. The strategic acquisition aims to enhance the U.S. military’s capabilities in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations across its areas of responsibility, particularly in the Middle East.
Advanced ISR Capabilities and Swarm Technology
The KH1000ULE drone is designed primarily for critical ISR missions. Its advanced capabilities extend to acting as a central node or “quarterback” within a network of other unmanned aerial systems (UAS), facilitating the relay of vital information and sensor data across a wide operational area. This functionality is crucial for maintaining real-time situational awareness and coordinating various assets.
A key feature highlighted by Kraus Hamdani Aerospace is the drone’s ability to operate in coordinated swarms, referred to as “multi-drone constellations.” According to a company release, a single operator can efficiently manage multiple K1000ULE UAS through a streamlined user interface. This allows for the identification of specific coverage areas and the deployment of the appropriate number of aircraft to execute dynamic missions, potentially spanning thousands of miles.
The KH1000ULE boasts a robust design, featuring a fully modular, open architecture integrated with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled autonomy. This allows the drone to carry multiple payloads and sensors, adapting to diverse mission requirements. Its operational versatility is further enhanced by its portability; it can be carried by a two-person crew and launched from a vehicle or through vertical takeoff capabilities.
For operations beyond visual line of sight, the drone incorporates secure SATCOM (satellite communication) capabilities. Stefan Kraus, cofounder and CTO of Kraus Hamdani, stated in a company release that this feature enables both ISR and resilient connectivity for U.S. forces and partner nations operating across the Middle East. The drone, which has a 20-foot wingspan, is designed to operate at altitudes up to 20,000 feet in all weather conditions, offering a range exceeding 700 nautical miles.
Proven Performance and Prior Military Adoption
While this contract represents a significant acquisition by Air Force Central, the KH1000ULE drone has already demonstrated its capabilities and gained traction with other branches of the U.S. military. Both the Army and Marine Corps have previously acquired smaller batches of these ISR drones following a series of successful demonstrations in various military exercises.
U.S. Army Pacific initiated experimentation with the K1000ULE between 2022 and 2024, conducting exercises across a wide geographical spread including the Philippines, Guam, Saipan, and Hawaii. This early adoption showcased the drone’s utility in diverse operational environments. Subsequently, U.S. Navy Central deployed the drone in the Middle East during its 2023 International Maritime Exercise, marking its initial use in the region.
The Marine Corps followed suit in April 2024, integrating the drone into its Small Unit Remote Scouting System. The Army further expanded its commitment, announcing a $20 million contract in October 2024 to acquire the drone for both the 1st Multidomain Task Force and Joint Special Operations Command, indicating a growing trust in its operational effectiveness.
The drone’s impressive endurance was highlighted in 2023 when a K1000ULE set a new record for its size, weight, and class. It performed a continuous flight of 75 hours and 35 minutes at Oregon’s Pendleton UAS test range, more than doubling the previous 36-hour record held by Lockheed Martin’s Stalker VXE.
This extended endurance is attributed, in part, to its fully electric, AI-enabled design. According to a company release, the drone can “mimic nature by utilizing onboard artificial intelligence to silently glide through the air like a bird and generate clean onboard energy.” The system dynamically takes advantage of thermal drafts to glide or soar, significantly reducing engine use and conserving energy, thereby extending its operational time.
Weighing 42.5 pounds, the K1000ULE falls within Group 2 of the Pentagon’s drone classification system (21-55 pounds), aligning with the broader strategic push by the Department of Defense to embrace smaller, more agile unmanned systems.
Strategic Context: The Pentagon’s Push for Drone Dominance
This acquisition by AFCENT is part of a larger strategic shift within the Pentagon toward developing and deploying a vast number of smaller, more cost-effective drones. In December, the Pentagon launched a $1 billion Drone Dominance Program, with the ambitious goal of producing 340,000 small, low-cost tactical drones over the next two years. This initiative followed President Donald Trump’s June 2025 executive order “Unleashing Drone Dominance,” which sought to bolster the U.S. drone industrial base.
Travis Metz, the Drone Dominance Program Manager, informed Congress in a March 5 hearing that the program’s initial cost for Group 1 drones is approximately $5,000 per unit, with an objective to reduce that price to $2,000 for one-way attack drones. The aim is to achieve mass production of these drones, fundamentally altering how services utilize them in tactical scenarios.
While the Army and Marine Corps have been at the forefront of integrating small drones into their formations, the Air Force is also making significant strides. In December, the USAF announced plans to establish a new experimental unit in the spring, specifically focused on launching swarms of weaponized drones across distances of hundreds of miles. This experimental operations unit is modeled after Task Force Scorpion, a one-way attack drone squadron operating under U.S. Central Command.
“Small UASs—what we refer to as group ones and group twos—should be treated more as commodities and as individual weapons than as aircraft systems,” an Air Force official stated in December. Task Force Scorpion extensively uses the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), which is a reengineered version of the Iranian fixed-wing Shahed drone. The LUCAS drones, capable of flying approximately 500 nautical miles and costing about $35,000 each, were first operationally deployed during Operation Epic Fury and have been deemed “indispensable” by CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper.
More recently, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center issued a notice to industry in mid-March, seeking a one-way attack drone equipped with first-person view (FPV) capability. This drone would need to be backpack-portable and capable of delivering munitions on targets over 12 miles away. Across all services, there is a clear imperative to identify more cost-effective methods for fielding larger quantities of drones, for both ISR and strike platforms.
Although a precise unit cost for the K1000ULE was not immediately disclosed, drones in its classification are anticipated to be substantially more affordable than larger, more complex platforms such as the MQ-9 Reaper, which typically costs between $13 million and $16 million per aircraft.
Why This Matters
This significant contract for the Kraus Hamdani KH1000ULE drone marks a pivotal moment in the modernization of U.S. military intelligence and surveillance capabilities. The acquisition underscores a strategic pivot towards agile, cost-effective, and AI-enabled unmanned systems that can operate with extended endurance and in coordinated swarms.
Enhanced Persistent ISR: The KH1000ULE’s ultra-long endurance, fueled by solar power and AI-driven energy conservation, allows for unprecedented persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage. This means the U.S. Air Force Central can maintain continuous eyes on critical areas, particularly in complex and contested environments like the Middle East, without the frequent need for refueling or replacement. Such persistent presence is invaluable for monitoring threats, tracking movements, and providing real-time situational awareness to ground forces and commanders.
Revolutionizing Drone Operations: The drone’s ability to act as a “quarterback” for other UAS and operate in multi-drone constellations signifies a shift towards more sophisticated, networked drone warfare. This allows for distributed operations, where a single operator can manage a vast surveillance network, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of intelligence gathering. This modular and open-architecture approach also facilitates rapid integration of new payloads and sensors, ensuring adaptability to evolving threats.
Cost-Effectiveness and Mass Production: The procurement aligns with the Pentagon’s broader Drone Dominance Program, which emphasizes acquiring a large volume of small, low-cost drones. By shifting away from extremely expensive, multi-million dollar platforms like the MQ-9 Reaper, the military can field a greater number of assets, increasing redundancy, survivability, and the overall scale of drone operations. This approach makes advanced drone technology more accessible and deployable, offering a more resilient and adaptable force structure.
Bolstering the Defense Industrial Base: This contract, along with similar initiatives from the Army and Marine Corps, signals a robust demand for innovative, smaller UAS from the U.S. defense industry. It encourages domestic research, development, and manufacturing in critical technological areas like AI, autonomous systems, and advanced power solutions, strengthening the U.S. industrial base and reducing reliance on foreign supply chains.
Implications for Future Warfare: The focus on swarming capabilities, AI-enabled autonomy, and persistent low-cost ISR platforms indicates a clear direction for future warfare. These drones can provide critical overwatch, relay communications in denied environments, and potentially pave the way for future offensive swarming tactics. This evolution impacts not only how the U.S. military operates but also influences the defense strategies of partner nations and potential adversaries, underscoring the growing importance of unmanned systems in modern conflict.
(Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org)