The US Air Forces Central (USAFCENT) has awarded Skydio a $9-million contract to deliver dock-based drone systems for securing US airbases across the Middle East.
The deal, covering an undisclosed number of Skydio Dock and X10 drone systems, marks one of the US Air Force’s largest deployments of autonomous drone infrastructure for overseas installation security.
USAFCENT is the air component of US Central Command, whose area of responsibility spans the Middle East, Egypt, Central Asia, and parts of South Asia.
“This contract ushers in a new era of remotely operated solutions,” Vice President of Federal Sales for Defense and Critical Infrastructure at Skydio, Justin Jordan, said.
“Skydio’s dock-based capability is already deployed across hundreds of state and local agencies nationwide. We’re proud to bring this proven solution to the US Air Force to help keep airmen safe. This is the future of installation security.”
Skydio Dock
The Skydio Dock is a fully autonomous “drone-in-a-box” platform that launches, lands, charges, and stores drones.
Positioned at strategic points across airbases, the system allows drones to deploy within 20 seconds and be managed by a single operator, maintaining situational awareness while reducing manpower needs.
Drones can respond immediately to alerts, transmitting live high-definition and thermal video to the Base Defense Operations Center while maintaining visual coverage until the incident is resolved.
X10 Drone
The X10 is a widely deployed Group 1 unmanned aerial system used by US Air Force Security Forces, offering resilient connectivity in contested environments, including during GPS and communications jamming.
To improve survivability against electronic countermeasures, the drone is equipped with a multiband radio that dynamically switches frequencies and employs visual-inertial odometry for navigation in GPS-denied or spoofed environments at high altitudes.
The platform is fitted with one of the highest-resolution visual and radiometric thermal camera suites in its class, enabling rapid detection of personnel, vehicles, and objects.
