The U.S. market for first-person-view drones (FPVs) has long been dominated by Chinese models made by SZ DJI Technology, which were recently banned by a Federal Communications Commission order. American companies have struggled to build FPVs in large numbers and cheaply enough so the military can afford to lose them in attacks. Neros, as US start-up, might have cracked the code on both fronts. The company said it is now building 1,200 drones a week at its facility in Southern California and has a plan to reach one million drones a year by 2028. Neros’s drones, called Archer, cost about $2,000 each and about $5,000 once the warhead and related equipment are added. This makes Archer potentially the only U.S. drone that has price parity with the DJI models used in the the Ukraine war and by Iranian-backed militias against U.S. assets in the Middle East. The U.S. Army contract with Neros, if executed at or near its full $500 million, would be the service’s largest-ever contract for small FPV drones.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in 2025 announced Drone Dominance, a $1.1 billion initiative to amass around 300,000 low-cost attack drones by 2026. He gave more authority to lower-ranked military officials to buy the drones they want and called for every squad to have low-cost expendable drones by 2026.

Heather SomervilleStartup Mass-Producing Cheap Killer Drones Wins $500 Million Army Contract, WSJ, July 14, 2026

.