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Pathway map: pick your door

Pathway map

Why it matters: The right door depends on two things: how mature your product is (the row) and what kind of product it is (the column). Find your cell. It lists your best doors.

Stage ↓ / Product → Attack / FPV drones Recon (ISR) drones Parts + payloads Software + autonomy Counter-drone
Prototype WORKS IN TESTS Army prize competitions · Army test range time · team with a Drone Dominance finalist Small-business research grants (SBIR) · Air Force challenges · special-ops test events Sell into Drone Dominance vendors' supply chains · research grants Army autonomy open call · special-ops autonomy event · research grants Army spectrum prize · Air Force battle lab RFI · counter-drone task force demo
Field-ready SMALL BATCHES Drone Dominance qualifier · Army Drone Marketplace · Marine Corps lab Army Drone Marketplace · Air Force calls · Homeland Security and border RFIs Army Marketplace parts and payloads call · Blue List component listing Tradewinds pitch video · Army Drone Marketplace · Drone OTA Consortium Counter-drone task force (JIATF-401), then validation · field exercises
At volume BLUE-LISTED Drone Dominance fixed-price rounds · production follow-on · foreign sales Marketplace orders · unit purchase agreements · GSA schedule · foreign sales Drone Dominance vendors at scale · Office of Strategic Capital loans Production agreement · subcontract to a prime Counter-drone marketplace · state buyers with FEMA grants · foreign sales

BEFORE ANY DOOR Register Get your federal registration and supplier code in SAM.gov, plus the invoicing account.

BEFORE ANY DOOR Clean your parts A parts list free of banned-country components, then the Blue List.

BEFORE ANY DOOR Prove delivery Units shipped, lead times, spares, training.

A worked example

Illustrative example. A made-up company that builds a small reconnaissance quadcopter. It works in the field and ships in small batches. Its parts list isn't audited yet, and it isn't on the Blue List.

Stage ↓ / Product → Attack / FPV drones Recon (ISR) drones Parts + payloads Software + autonomy Counter-drone
Prototype WORKS IN TESTS Army prize competitions · Army test range time · team with a Drone Dominance finalist Small-business research grants (SBIR) · Air Force challenges · special-ops test events Sell into Drone Dominance vendors' supply chains · research grants Army autonomy open call · special-ops autonomy event · research grants Army spectrum prize · Air Force battle lab RFI · counter-drone task force demo
Field-ready SMALL BATCHES Drone Dominance qualifier · Army Drone Marketplace · Marine Corps lab REVENUE THIS YEAR Army Drone Marketplace · Air Force calls · Homeland Security and border RFIs Army Marketplace parts and payloads call · Blue List component listing Tradewinds pitch video · Army Drone Marketplace · Drone OTA Consortium Counter-drone task force (JIATF-401), then validation · field exercises
At volume BLUE-LISTED Drone Dominance fixed-price rounds · production follow-on · foreign sales POSITIONING NEXT YEAR Marketplace orders · unit purchase agreements · GSA schedule · foreign sales Drone Dominance vendors at scale · Office of Strategic Capital loans Production agreement · subcontract to a prime Counter-drone marketplace · state buyers with FEMA grants · foreign sales

NOW Clear the gates Register in SAM.gov. Audit the parts list. Open a Blue List packet with an approved assessor.

NEXT 90 DAYS Get on the shelf Answer the Air Force short-range recon drone RFI and the Homeland Security recoverable drone RFI. Pitch the Army Drone Marketplace.

NEXT YEAR Sell at volume Once Blue-listed: marketplace orders, unit purchase agreements and the GSA schedule (Blue-listed drones only).