Airframer
NewsPress release

Press release

Redwire announces addition of the Edge Autonomy Stalker uncrewed aerial system to Department of Defense’s Blue List of approved drones

14/07/2025

Press releaseIssued by Redwire Defense Tech (was Edge Autonomy).

Redwire Corporation, a global leader in aerospace and defense technology solutions, today announced that the Stalker uncrewed aerial system (UAS), developed by Redwire’s wholly owned subsidiary Edge Autonomy, has been granted an Authority to Operate (ATO) and is now on the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Blue UAS List.

The DIU Blue List contains technology vetted and approved by the Department of Defense (DoD) authority for universal use across government agencies. Drones on the DIU Blue List are subject to rigorous testing to ensure they meet stringent cybersecurity, NDAA-compliance, and operational requirements. This process ensures that the necessary technology is in place to maintain and promote national security while addressing operational challenges at speed and scale.

“The Blue List selection is an important recognition that streamlines Redwire’s ability to deliver combat-proven, commercially developed UAS technology at scale to meet the Department of Defense’s evolving mission needs,” said Peter Cannito, Chairman and CEO of Redwire. “As the White House looks to advance the domestic commercialization of UAS technologies at scale and ramp up domestic production, Redwire is positioned at the forefront of strengthening our nation’s drone industrial base and delivering unmatched capabilities to the U.S. warfighter.

Edge Autonomy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Redwire, specializes in delivering innovative autonomous systems, advanced optics, and resilient energy solutions that are being used by the DoD, U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies, and allied governments. With nearly four decades of technology heritage and manufacturing expertise, Edge Autonomy’s experienced team delivers proven solutions based on real-world mission needs.

“We recently had the honor of participating in the DIU Blue fly-off to add our advanced Group 2 Stalker UAS to the Blue UAS Cleared List” said Steve Adlich, President of Edge Autonomy. “This milestone creates opportunities for larger and more complex Group 2 UAS and highlights the trust that the U.S. Government has in our technology. The Stalker system is a field-proven aircraft with hundreds of thousands of flight hours across six continents. It is designed with a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA), which has enabled us to work alongside our customers to ensure each system can integrate the third-party sensors and advanced technology required to rapidly evolve operations to meet emerging mission needs around the world.”

With nearly two decades of flight operations around the world, the Stalker UAS is a secure, battle-proven solution for ISR missions in all environments. The addition of the Stalker UAS to the DIU Blue list will enable more government agencies and operational units to gain access to this cutting-edge system.

The industry ledger — an Analytics feature — collects the dated facts behind stories like this one, filterable by theme, company, program, country and date. See a worked example →

In this release

Programs covered
Sectors covered

People in this release

Peter CannitoChairman & CEO · Redwire Defense Tech (was Edge Autonomy)
Steve AdlichPresident · Redwire Defense Tech (was Edge Autonomy)in

Where we hold a LinkedIn profile it’s marked — the links come with a subscription.

Your news here

Submit your press releases

Send releases and photographs to news@news.airframer.com — the pick of them reach Bulletin readers every Thursday.

Every Thursday

The Airframer Bulletin

The week’s aerospace manufacturing news, reported by our editors and delivered free to your inbox. Sign up ›

Go deeper

Who supplies whom?

Subscribers see the confirmed supply chain behind every story — complete supplier lists for each aircraft program, sector and company. See the plans ›

Spotted something wrong or out of date on this page? Tell us

Corrections go straight to the editorial team that maintains this directory.