The United States military and other federal agencies have cleared a new weaponized uncrewed system for purchase, adding a drone equipped with a shotgun to the Pentagon’s approved catalog. The development places a reusable aerial platform capable of firing ballistic rounds directly into the hands of operators.
Skyborne Technologies’ AI-enabled Cerberus MI was added to the Blue UAS List earlier this month. The aircraft is a small, man-portable uncrewed aerial system explicitly engineered to handle the recoil of attached weaponry rather than relying on a standard commercial, off-the-shelf airframe modified after market.
According to the manufacturing company, the Cerberus MI weighs approximately 40 pounds and achieves a flight duration of roughly 35 minutes when armed. The system is designed to engage targets at a range exceeding 300 meters.
The aircraft is built to carry a CHAOS 12-gauge shotgun, with its structural integrity specifically tailored to absorb the firearm’s heavy recoil. In addition to the shotgun configuration, the drone can also be outfitted with a HAVOC 40-millimeter low-velocity grenade launcher. Operators can deploy the aircraft into active scenarios, discharge its payload, and pilot it back to base for reloading. This capability offers a reusable alternative to conventional one-way attack drones that are destroyed upon impact with a target.
While shotguns are frequently utilized as a ground-level last line of defense against incoming aerial systems, the deployment reverses the dynamic by placing the weapon aboard an unmanned flying platform. The concept is gaining traction globally; Ukrainian defense firm 3DTech previously developed an uncrewed system equipped with a six-barrel recoilless shotgun array specifically intended to shoot down enemy drones. Domestic defense and manufacturing entities, including Federal Ammunition, Mossberg, and Palladyne AI, are likewise pursuing related initiatives through collaborative efforts like the SwarmShot project.
The Department of Defense established the Blue UAS program in 2020 to vet and identify uncrewed aerial systems that comply with strict government standards, with an emphasis on cybersecurity protocols and supply chain security regulations. The Defense Contract Management Agency launched an official online catalog last year to display the cleared models.
Defense officials note that the catalog system is intended to accelerate the delivery of tactical drones to military personnel as the Department of Defense and partner federal agencies work to integrate uncrewed technologies into regular operations. The vetting framework covers complete drone platforms, individual replacement components, and operational software.
A central objective of the Blue UAS framework is vetting out equipment containing restricted Chinese-induced hardware. Industry data from the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International indicates that Chinese manufacturers maintain control over 90 percent of the global commercial drone market, prompting sustained federal concerns regarding supply chain leverage and national security vulnerabilities.
