Cleo Robotics to Develop Tactical Drone for U.S. Army

Cleo Robotics, which develops the Dronut aerial vehicle platform, has announced a contract with the U.S. Army to deliver several prototype Tactical Dronut (TacDronut) systems to be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks. The $2.5 million contract was awarded by the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Crticial Technologies Office (RCCTO) following an Army Innovation Day competition of other disruptive and innovative technologies.

“Partnering with a company like Cleo Robotics allows the Army RCCTO to bring disruptive capabilities to the warfighter,” said Robert Monto, Jr., deputy director of Critical Technologies Office (CTO) and Advanced Concepts and Experimentation (ACE) of the Army RCCTO. “Working through our Innovation Day process paired this approach to a unit of action.”

Cleo said that as soldiers are required to operate in more congested and contested environments, next-generation small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) that can operate in buildings, tunnels and other enclosed spaces will be critical to battlefield mission success. The TacDronut is a compact, lightweight and rugged sUAS based on Cleo’s Dronut technology.

The Dronut is a ducted aerial vehicle platform that can withstand impact without sustaining damage, and can operate in GPS-enabled and  GPS-denied environments, the company said. The system includes onboard intelligence and sensor payloads to reduce cognitive burdens on soldiers, allowing commanders to rapidly adapt to challenges faced on fluid battlefields. After demonstration of the prototype with the 82nd Airborne Division, the  TacDronut will be transitioned by the Army as an ISR capability for the dismounted soldier.

“We developed the Dronut specifically to operate in challenging environments and provide lifesaving intelligence and information, so the TacDronut program is a natural progression for this technology,” said Omar Eleryan, founder and CEO at Cleo Robotics. “This endorsement by the U.S. Army is a great testament to the groundbreaking technology we’re building, and we’re thrilled to be working with the Army RCCTO team and Soldiers from an elite group like the 82nd Airborne Division.”

For more details on the Dronut technology, visit the Cleo Robotics website here.