USSOCOM Advances Leidos’ Bronco II Aircraft to Next Phase Fly-off

USSOCOM has selected Leidos as the prime contractor to compete for the final phase of the Armed Overwatch aircraft prototype program where its Bronco II aircraft will advance to the Phase III Operational Prototype Demonstration fly-off By DA Staff / 17 Jun 2021

Discover Leading Defense Technology Solutions

Discover cutting-edge solutions from leading global suppliers
SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
Follow DA

Leidos has been awarded a contract in the next phase of the U.S. Special Operations Command’s (USSOCOM) Armed Overwatch aircraft prototype program. 

The Leidos team, comprised Paramount Group USA and Vertex Aerospace, will advance its new aircraft known as Bronco II to the Phase III Operational Prototype Demonstration fly-off.

USSOCOM has selected Leidos as the prime contractor to compete for the final phase of the Armed Overwatch contract. The contract requires demonstrating a new prototype system evaluated against well-defined criteria.

“Superior technology is critical to USSOCOM’s mission and we are proud to support them through Bronco II,” said Gerry Fasano, Leidos Defense Group president. 

“This advanced aircraft is designed to usher USSOCOM into the next generation of tactical warfare and deliver mission-critical tools to the warfighter. The Leidos team is excited to enter Phase III of the competition and proud to support SOCOM as it defends our nation across the world.”

Bronco II is a rugged, affordable and sustainable multi-mission aircraft built to meet the specific needs of special operations forces. 

Designed to “roll-on, roll-off” standards, Bronco II can be rapidly disassembled, transported and reassembled in the field by a small crew. It features modular missions systems to enable rapid system changes, updates, additions, integration and removal. 

The Bronco II aircraft will be manufactured in Crestview, Florida.

Posted by DA Staff Connect & Contact

Latest Articles

Practical Methods for Balancing UAV Propellers Safely & Effectively

Tyto Robotics discusses the ways to add and remove materials from drone propellers, considering advantages and disadvantages of various products and techniques

Jul 11, 2025
Military-Grade Tethered Drone Systems for Surveillance & Security Missions

DPI UAV Systems (Dragonfly Pictures) is a developer of advanced tethered drone systems for military, government and security applications. As...

Jul 11, 2025
Modular Chassis Design Enhances Deployment Flexibility for Defense Systems

LCR Embedded Systems explains how modular chassis design supports rapid deployment and cost-effective packaging for rugged embedded systems using open standards like VPX and SOSA

Jul 10, 2025
MilDef to Supply Rugged IT Equipment for Norway’s Defense Digitization

MilDef has secured a major contract with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to supply rugged IT equipment supporting Norway’s defense digitization efforts

Jul 10, 2025
Tethered Drone Technologies for Mission-Critical Defense & Security Applications

Defense Advancement showcases Elistair's tethered drone solutions for mission-critical defense and security applications

Jul 10, 2025
New Oscilloquartz Optical Cesium Clocks Enhance Network Timing Precision

Adtran is expanding its Oscilloquartz portfolio with the new OSA 3200 SP and OSA 3250 ePRC optical cesium models, providing improved holdover and simplified maintenance for telecom, data center, utility, and defense networks

Jul 09, 2025

Featured Content

New Oscilloquartz Optical Cesium Clocks Enhance Network Timing Precision

Adtran is expanding its Oscilloquartz portfolio with the new OSA 3200 SP and OSA 3250 ePRC optical cesium models, providing improved holdover and simplified maintenance for telecom, data center, utility, and defense networks

Jul 09, 2025
Teledyne FLIR OEM Whitepaper: Synthetic Data Generation for AI Object Detection

Read Teledyne FLIR OEM’s whitepaper on AIMMGen™, a defense-oriented synthetic data and AI model generation pipeline tailored to Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) and object classification tasks

Jul 03, 2025
Galvion’s Production Hub in Poland Now Open & Operational

Galvion's new Production Hub in Poland has formally opened through a large ceremony held at the Gdansk facility with factory tours, demonstrations, and live models of helmets

Jun 30, 2025
Advancing Defense Capability Through Strategic Collaboration Defense Advancement works with major OEMs to foster collaboration and increase engagement with SMEs, to accelerate innovation and drive defense capabilities forward.