US Army's Skyfoundry sUAS initiative selects magnet supplier for motors
Developing mass-producible sUAS, as well as counter-sUAS systems, have been high priorities for the US Army. A Modular Intercept Drone Avionics Set (MIDAS) by Aurora Flight Sciences is seen here. (Mark Schauer/ US Army Yuma Proving Ground)
The US Army selected Vulcan Elements, a US-based rare earth magnet manufacturer, to provide Neodymium Iron Boron magnets for the service's SkyFoundry small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) initiative, the company announced on 23 September.
In a statement, the company said its magnets “enable the army's production of brushless direct current [DC] motors — the primary engine powering the Army's small drone capabilities”.
SkyFoundry was announced in October 2025 as a pilot programme for sUAS manufacturing, at the time envisioned as producing 10,000 systems per month by the end of 2026. As of this writing, it was not clear whether the project was on track to meet that goal.
SkyFoundry is envisioned as an army-industry-academic partnership, with the army largely responsible for the bodies, batteries, and propellers, and industry for software and payloads. Brushless motors were to be the first part that the army would produce on its own in 2026.
On 30 June, Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania officially opened its brushless DC motor assembly line. In a statement earlier that month, depot officials said the facility had “a capacity to produce upwards of 500,000 motors annually”.
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