Leadership Brief
Armored Innovations Basic Drone Building Course
BLUF
A 5-day investment that returns durable, organic capability the formation keeps and can employ through train-up, CERTEX/VALEX, and deployment. Attendees return with equipment and a retained skill — not just a certificate. Cost $6,993.75/student, payable by GPC as a single micro-purchase. Recommend approval and a slot on the training calendar.
Unit Capability & Lethality
- Returns organic sUAS capability to the formation: Soldiers build, fly, repair, and 3D-print FPV drones — putting a low-cost precision/ISR effect in the unit's hands and reducing dependence on slow procurement and external enablers.
- Directly supports the train-up: the skills and kit plug into CERTEX/VALEX scenarios and deploy with the unit, so the capability is validated before and available during deployment.
- Soldier development and retention: builds high-demand technical expertise that stays in the formation; graduates can train others, multiplying the capability across the unit.
- Durable, not consumable: every attendee keeps the FPV drone they build plus a Bambu Labs X1C 3D printer, so field repair and iteration continue long after the course.
- Credible cadre and compliant kit: instruction by a disabled-veteran-owned company (lead instructor 20 years military, 14 in SOF-SMU); NDAA-compliant components; culminates in a full mission profile exercise.
Soldier Development
- Develops high-demand technical skill that stays in the formation and can be passed to other Soldiers.
- Retention-positive: invests in the Soldier and grows organic expertise the unit owns.
Training Calendar Fit
- 5 days, in person, 265 Pinehurst Avenue, Suite D, Southern Pines, NC 28387 — a discrete block to slot into the long-range training calendar.
- Dates: Monday, August 10, 2026 – Friday, August 14, 2026 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM EDT.
- Nests under the unit METL and the commander's Annual Training Guidance / long-range training plan (FM 7-0).
- Supports individual and collective train-up toward CERTEX/VALEX and pre-deployment readiness.
Policy Alignment
- Directly supports the commander's training guidance and prioritized mission-essential tasks (FM 7-0, Training).
- Aligns with the Army's Transforming in Contact effort to field organic, company-level sUAS/FPV capability (FY26 sUAS request ~$726M).
- Kit is NDAA-compliant: since Dec 2025 federal funds may not buy UAS from covered foreign entities (e.g., DJI) — American Security Drone Act; Blue UAS is the DoD-vetted path.
Funding & Sole-Source
- $6,993.75/student. Per student — $3,275 course + $3,718.75 materials (NDAA components vary). Course materials included; Gov contracts NET 45.
- Under the $15,000 federal micro-purchase threshold — a unit can typically buy this on a Government Purchase Card (GPC) as a single micro-purchase (professional/instructional service, not SCA-covered). Confirm with your GPC cardholder / Billing Official; training buys usually run on an SF 182.
- Sole-source is not a hurdle: below the $15K micro-purchase threshold no competition is required — a single source is authorized once the price is reasonable, and small-business set-aside rules don't apply (FAR 13.202).
- NDAA compliance further narrows the field — non-compliant (covered-foreign) options are not lawfully buyable, reinforcing the single-source rationale.
- Registered vendor: CAGE 9FME9, UEI GFS1FMKDB137. Paid via GPC / documented on an SF 182.
What the Unit Keeps
- Frame — Lumenier QAV-R 2 Deadcat 5"
- FC/ESC — NDAA-compliant flight electronics
- Motors — 2306.3 1950KV
- Receiver — RadioMaster ELRS RP1 V2 2.4GHz
- Transmitter — RadioMaster Pocket Edge
- Goggles — Fatshark Recon HD
- VTX — Walksnail Avatar HD V2 w/Gyro (0.00001 lux)
- Battery — 1550mAh 4S 100C XT60
- Propellers — Gatebraker 5x5.3x3
- Charger — ISDT D2 Mark 2
- Tool Kit — Travel solder/maintenance kit
- 3D Printer — Bambu Labs X1C
Questions, Answered
- Q: Does this build lasting capability or just check a box? A: Attendees keep the kit, so the capability stays in the formation — and graduates can train others.
- Q: How does it fit the training calendar? A: A 5 days block that slots into the LRTP/ATG and supports train-up toward CERTEX/VALEX and deployment.
- Q: How is it funded — is sole-source a problem? A: $6,993.75 on the GPC; below the $15K micro-purchase threshold no competition is required (FAR 13.202), so single-source is minimal paperwork.
- Q: Why this over other training? A: NDAA-compliant kit (non-compliant options are legally barred), a take-home drone + 3D printer, and a credentialed cadre.
- Q: What backs this at echelon? A: Transforming in Contact — the Army's push for organic, company-level sUAS/FPV.