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Whether you need production-intent prototype parts, bridge builds or recurring hardware, Fathom offers a broad range of processes that can support drone programs at multiple stages of maturity.
We offer CNC machining, additive manufacturing, sheet metal fabrication, finishing, assembly and other advanced processes backed by engineering support and inspection.
Common fits for Drone Dominance-style programs include:
Phase 3 funds about 60,000 one-way attack drones across two mission areas, with an option for 40,000 more. Here is what the calendar asks of your program, and what your mechanical supply chain should be doing at each step.
Key Phase 3 numbers:
Months after the first Gauntlet, just under 60% of the Phase 1 base order had been delivered and accepted. Most of the shortfall traced back to the supply chain, not the aircraft.
Phase 3 closes that gap on purpose. Before any vendor flies in Gauntlet III, it has to deliver a 400-drone production order in about two months. The program is testing whether you can build at rate, and it is testing it early.
Parts that are easy to make in tens become bottlenecks in hundreds. Tooling you haven’t released yet won’t arrive in time.
About $5,000 for Deep Strike and $3,000 for Close-Quarters Battle leaves little margin for over-machined brackets or hand-finished housings.
Airframes must accept both commercial and government-provided payloads, so mounting features need repeatable dimensions from the first drone to the last.
Evaluators want proof of where critical components come from. Mechanical parts made and documented in the U.S. are the easiest part of that story to prove.
Phase 3 splits vendors into Deep Strike and Close-Quarters Battle, including urban and underground environments. The same airframe logic won’t serve both, and neither will the same manufacturing choices.
Common to both: Payload adapter plates, mounting brackets and the assembly fixtures that keep interface dimensions repeatable from the first drone to the 60,000th.
You own the aircraft, the autonomy and final integration. Fathom makes the mechanical parts that hold it together and the fixtures your line needs to build it, and we match the process to where your program stands right now.
Our engineers review your mechanical parts for manufacturability and map each one to a process for the 400-unit build and for rate production. You go into your pitch knowing which parts are ready to scale and which need work.
We print and machine flight-ready parts in materials close to your production intent, so what you learn in evaluation carries forward instead of starting over.
Additive manufacturing, cast urethane and CNC machining cover your first production lot while we release molds and dies for your highest-volume parts in parallel.
Injection molding, sheet metal fabrication, photochemical machining and production CNC take over as volume climbs. Fixtures, nests and gauges keep your own assembly line moving.
Designs will keep changing as the threat does. Controlled revision management and one quality system across our sites keep every engineering change traceable, without restarting qualification from scratch.
Phase 1 deliveries stalled on components that couldn’t be sourced domestically at volume. Phase 3 raises the bar again, asking vendors to show where their critical components come from. New Section 232 tariffs of up to 100% on imported drones and key components, such as motors, speed controllers and batteries, add cost pressure to fixed-price orders.
Motors, batteries and chips will take time to onshore. Your brackets, housings, mounts and fixtures don’t have to. Fathom makes them at 7 U.S. locations and ships them with the paperwork your program office will ask for.
Early prototypes prove a concept. Production exposes everything else.
As your design moves toward volume production, problems show up:
When the program is designed to compress acquisition timelines, you do not have time to discover manufacturability issues late.
That’s where Fathom comes in.
We help engineering teams move faster by combining experienced applications engineers, DFM guidance, production-minded problem solving and a broad set of manufacturing options under one roof.
Instead of juggling multiple vendors and hoping everything lines up, you get a partner who can help simplify the path to deliverable hardware.
In aerospace and defense, small problems become big risks fast. Our capabilities and expertise are built to help you solve the pressures you’re facing: tight tolerances, compressed schedules, compliance pressure and a manufacturing partner who can help you protect milestones.
With Fathom, you get:
From project kickoff through delivery, we’ll work with you to optimize your parts for production, select the right processes and materials for your needs and much more.
Fathom offers the widest range of manufacturing capabilities in the industry. We have the tools, talent and scale to deliver.
Reducing weight is a critical design requirement for drones. We have decades of experience helping our customers replace solid walls in their part designs with strong, weight-saving lattices.
From drone and military rifle components to spacecraft and satellite parts, what we build gets used in some of the world’s most demanding environments.
All of our facilities operate on a common. rigorous quality system, ensuring that your parts meet your quality requirements. They also do post-processing and assembly – which can save you time and money.
We have AS9100, ITAR and NIST 800-171 credentials that support regulated aerospace and defense manufacturing. We can also comply with customer-specific process, material and workmanship standards.
Phase III is the next round of the Department of War’s Drone Dominance Program, which is buying low-cost, one-way attack drones from U.S. vendors at scale. About $450 million is planned for roughly 60,000 drones, with an option for up to 40,000 more.
The Request for Solutions was released September 28, 2026. Questions were due October 7 at 12:00 p.m. ET, and submissions were due October 12 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Pitch & Fly evaluations for new entrants are planned for November, followed by Gauntlet III.
Deep Strike covers one-way attack at stand-off ranges out to about 20 km. Close-Quarters Battle covers short-range missions, including urban and underground environments. Both require integration with commercial and government-provided payloads.
Reported targets are about $5,000 per Deep Strike drone, not counting the warhead, and about $3,000 per Close-Quarters Battle drone.
Top performers from Gauntlet II advance directly. Other vendors submit a pitch deck, and about eight are invited to a live Pitch & Fly evaluation. Gauntlet III is capped at 14 vendors.
Each vendor that reaches Gauntlet III must first deliver a production order of 400 drones in about two months. It tests whether a vendor can build at rate, not just fly well. In Gauntlet II, the equivalent order was 120 drones in about five weeks.
No. You own the aircraft design, autonomy, electronics and final integration. Fathom makes the mechanical parts, such as brackets, housings, payload mounts, guards and enclosures, plus the fixtures, nests and gauges your production line needs.
Before you submit. A manufacturability review now shows which parts will hold up at 400 units and which need tooling started early, and it gives evaluators a production plan they can trust.
No. Drone designs change with the threat. We start with fast, tool-free processes while the design settles, then move stable parts to production processes, with every revision controlled and traceable.
Yes, for the mechanical parts we make. Fathom manufactures at 7 U.S. locations and provides material certifications, certificates of conformance and lot traceability. We are AS9100D certified, ITAR registered and NIST 800-171 compliant, with CMMC Level 2 in process. Certifications vary by location.
