Darkhive drone startup wins $5M Air Force contract for advanced drone autonomy
San Antonio-based Darkhive is one step closer to scaling its autonomous uncrewed drone systems for military and public safety use. The startup has won a $5 million Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the U.S. Air Force AFWERX Autonomy Prime.AFWERX, the Air Force office in charge of finding new and innovative ways to use technology, has set up a new program called Autonomy Prime to learn about the autonomous technologies companies have under development — and how the military could adapt them for its missions.Defense industry executive and U.S. Special Operations veteran John Goodson launched Darkhive in Sept. 2021. Since then, he and chief technology officer Steven Turner have developed an effective, affordable alternative for military and law enforcem...