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The U.S. defense procurement landscape is evolving rapidly, with increasing emphasis on expediting acquisition from trusted, secure, and scalable commercial technologies. A key driver of this shift is the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Blue List, the U.S. Department of War’s (DoW) authoritative directory of approved, secure, and NDAA-compliant unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and components. The Blue List is designed to facilitate procurement and provide U.S. military units with rapid access to vetted technologies.
Elsight’s Halo Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications platform has been cleared for inclusion on the DCMA Blue List. This milestone verifies alignment with strict operational and security requirements and provides U.S. military units with a direct, friction-free procurement channel to the Halo communication platform.
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The Blue List: A Shift in Defense Procurement
For years, U.S. defense procurement has been characterized by long lead times and complex contracting cycles, creating a gap between the pace of commercial innovation and the speed at which new technologies reach operational use.
The DCMA Blue List reflects a shift in how the U.S. military acquires drone technologies. Managed by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) under its US-X (Unmanned Systems-Experimental) program, it serves as a centralized marketplace for vetted unmanned systems and components. The initiative builds on the earlier Blue UAS Cleared List framework developed by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and transitioned to DCMA management in December 2025, in accordance with the U.S. Department of Defense memorandum, “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance.”
The program is designed to reduce military procurement bottlenecks and shorten acquisition timelines, enabling efficient access to UAS technologies that meet strict compliance standards. DCMA aims to scale the Blue List into a broader defense marketplace, supporting a wide network of approved suppliers by the end of 2027.
To be included, technologies must meet rigorous requirements for cybersecurity, supply chain integrity, performance, and compliance verification. For providers, inclusion improves visibility and accessibility, making it easier for defense organizations to evaluate, procure, and deploy new capabilities.
“The Blue List milestone is a powerful validation of Halo’s ability to provide resilient connectivity for mission-critical operations. We look forward to supporting U.S. defense plans with the connectivity required for effective operation in complex and contested environments.”
Yoav Amitai, Chief Executive Officer, Elsight Limited
The Rising Role of UAS in Modern Warfare
Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have evolved from a niche capability to a core component of modern military doctrine, with adoption accelerating rapidly. UAS offer clear advantages. They extend operational reach without exposing personnel to risk. They provide real-time visibility across large areas and can be deployed quickly across a wide range of missions.
As drone capabilities expand worldwide, UAS are moving from supporting roles to mission-critical functions. They are deployed at increasing scale across intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, logistics, and tactical missions, including strike operations, precision effects, and loitering munitions. Their effectiveness, however, depends on the infrastructure that supports them, particularly communication systems.
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The Connectivity Imperative
Every UAS application, from ISR to strike to logistics, relies on a secure and continuous communications link between the drone, its operators, and command systems. As missions extend over longer distances in areas of electronic warfare (EW), across varied terrain, and under dynamic conditions of spoofing and jamming while carrying more sensitive payloads in complex and contested scenarios, the demands on that link increase significantly. Connectivity directly determines mission success.
As UAS deployment scales, the reliability, security, and adaptability of the communications layer will define how effectively unmanned systems perform in real-world conditions. Halo’s inclusion on the DCMA Blue List reinforces the importance of resilient connectivity as a core capability in modern drone operations.
Elsight Halo: Communications Built for the Most Demanding Missions
Elsight’s Halo is designed to address the BLOS communication challenge. The Halo drone communications platform is a multilink, carrier-agnostic connectivity solution engineered specifically for unmanned and autonomous systems operating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). It combines multiple communication networks, including cellular, SATCOM, and P2P/MANET, into a single, seamless, always-on connection. Using real-time, packet-level switching between networks, Halo maintains uninterrupted connectivity, enabling stable command and control and high-throughput data transmission in demanding conditions. By leveraging all available spectrum and optimizing communication in real time, Halo eliminates single points of failure.
With options ranging from a sub-100-gram airborne card to a ruggedized ground-station unit, Halo is deployable across a wide range of UAS platforms, from small tactical ISR drones to large multi-mission systems. Field-proven in active conflict zones, Halo has been deployed globally across military, homeland security, energy, logistics, and public safety applications.
The Blue List plays a key role in accelerating the adoption of technologies like Halo. Reducing product verification time, procurement friction, and contracting timelines enables a quick move from evaluation to deployment. Access to pre-vetted technologies enables military units to respond more effectively to evolving requirements.
For Elsight, Blue List status is a commercial unlock that allows U.S. military units across all services to procure Halo directly through the DCMA marketplace. It reduces delays associated with traditional acquisition processes, thereby speeding the fielding of new technology at the tactical level. It is expected to accelerate the adoption and deployment of Halo-equipped drone systems.
As drone programs continue to scale, connectivity will remain a central requirement. Systems that can maintain reliable communication across diverse environments will play a key role in enabling future operations
For more information, please contact Elsight.
