A PDW C100 heavy quadcopter drone with payload strapped underneath.
Photo courtesy of Performance Drone Works
The C100 heavy quadcopter drone is making the interservice leap from the Army to the Air Force—specifically, the latter service’s 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing which issued a contract for C100s according to a statement by Alabama-based manufacturer Performance Drone Works (PDW) this Wednesday.
Larger multicopter UAVs like the Vampyr, Kazhan and R18 operated by Ukraine have played a major role combating invading Russian forces since 2022, their nighttime raids earning them the sobriquet ‘Baba Yagas’ after the terrifying witch in Slavic folklore. Despite ubiquitous smaller and cheaper Group 1 FPV drones, the ‘heavies’ bring to the table greater range, endurance and payload.
However, C100 quadcopters in this weight class only recently began deliveries to the U.S. Army combat units under the service’s Medium Range Reconnaissance program seeking a large but portable vertical-lift drones to support infantry companies in the field by providing reconnaissance, targeting, gravity bombing, battlefield delivery and communications relaying capabilities.
The new order shows at least one key Air Force unit is interested in the Army’s heavy quadcopters too, though the exact cost and scope of the buy hasn’t been made public.
PDW said it couldn’t comment on the specific missions the 93rd AGOW had in mind for C100s. In a press release, CEO Ryan Gury touted the C100’s modular payload capabilities and scalability would help fill a gap for “rapidly deployable, multi-mission aerial platforms.” He noted in an email “C100 can support ISR, kinetic effect, comms relay, electronic warfare among other mission sets.”
So why is this particular Air Force unit interested in this specific drone?
Small drones helping big warplanes
The Air Force’s two Air Ground Operation Wings (AGOWs)—the 93rd at Moody Airbase in Georgia, USA, and the 435th headquartered at Ramstein Airbase in Germany—have diverse subunits specialized in coordinating air support and meteorological intelligence for Army combat units, or rapidly establishing, operating and defending new airbases in the field.
While heavy quadcopters could support all those missions in various way, it seems highly plausible the 93rd AGOW may experiment with operating C100s in Tactical Air Control Parties—teams that embed into Army combat formations to coordinate support from the Air Force. In the 93rd, these teams are fielded by the 3rd and 18th Air Support Operations Groups.
Two U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) team members assigned to the 19th Air Support Operations Squadron conduct operations during a Bamboo Eagle (BE) 25-1 exercise at an island in the North Pacific, Feb. 13, 2025.
USAF/Airman 1st. Class Brianna Vetro
Notably, C100s can mount a stabilized Leonardo STAG5 gimbal with a laser-designator which can illuminate a target over 1.24 miles away for strikes by a laser-guided weapons. This capability was recently demonstrated in an exercise involving an Air Force F-35A stealth fighter.
During the trial (viewable below) the C100 lased three targets between .62, 1 and 1.24 miles away which were subsequently struck by four inert GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bomb released by the F-35. The C100 itself remained airborne for 35 minutes during the test while operating nearly 2 miles away from its operators.
While enabling a low-level Army drone to acquire a target for a powerful Air Force jet was the trial’s concept, perhaps it spurred (or reflected) Air Force interest in acquiring an in-house capability too.
Laser-guidance is one of the least expensive methods for converting dumb weapons into smart ones—and it remains effective against moving vehicles and is immune to conventional jamming, unlike GPS-guided weapons. But getting a laser positioned to sustainably ‘paint’ a ground target can be tricky, as it requires maintaining a direct line of sight to the target—which means the designator is exposed to detection and attack too!
TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 14: A Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) looks through a laser target designator as part of Exercise Nigrum Pugio on October 14, 2020 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The line-of-sight requirement also means targets concealed behind hills, trees or buildings can’t be painted by ground designators, at least not without dangerously infiltrating enemy positions. And while suitably equipped aircraft can and do lase targets from above, under certain circumstances this too can expose aircraft to enemy fire.
C100s therefore could offer TACPs on the ground a field-portable system with which to lase targets at some depth beyond the frontline and/or concealed behind terrain—without exposing operators. Of course the drone’s standard electrooptical/thermal sensor turrets could be useful too for targeting reconnaissance.
C100s can carry additional payloads which might interest TACPs, including electronic warfare and radio-direction finding equipment which can subvert or enable geolocation of enemy emitters (radio-frequency communication systems, radars, jammers etc.) for potential targeting. And with communication relaying equipment, it could help establish or maintain links between aircraft and ground forces that might otherwise be disrupted; or extend the control-link range of smaller drones.
The curious origins of the C100
CEO Gury was formerly a founder of the Drone Racing League and designer of its speedy RacerX drones before founding PDW in 2018.
But for PDW’s flagship C100 drone, he wanted to optimize endurance. In 2022 a C100 set a world record for longest flight by a battery-operated drone at 2 hours 14 minutes and change. In its operational configuration, the 21-pound quadcopter has an endurance of 74 minutes, can carry 10-pound payloads and, if pressed, can dash at 40 miles per hour. This summer, PDW opened a new facility in Huntsville that has increased maximum production capacity to 350 C100s monthly.
In an interview earlier this summer Gury said his own experiences combined with consultation with veterans on PDW’s board led him to design the C100 for functionality in communications-denied environments and adverse climate conditions, while remaining portable enough to fit in an individual soldier’s rucksack.
The C100’s selection for the Army’s Medium Range Reconnaissance competition resulted in three contracts funded by the service’s Transformation-in-Contact initiative the last of which in September awarded $20.9 million. It included both C100s and ‘Multi-Mission Payloads’ facilitating longer-ranger operations in GPS-denied environments, and signals intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities.
A civilian contractor instructs combat engineer Spc. Xitllali Santacruz of the 1st Cavalry Division on C100 operations at Fort Hood, Texas on September 17, 2025.
Sgt. Jacob Nunnenkamp/U.S. Army
However, the C100 is competing with Anduril’s GhostX single-rotor helicopter drone also being procured for Tranche 1 of the MRR program. Released specifications suggest Ghost-X has similar endurance, but has more than twice the range while weighing more than twice as much as a C100 at 55 pounds.
The Anduril Ghost-X (L) and Precision Drone Works C-100 were selected for the Tranche 1 fielding of Company level small UAS through a directed requirement to immediately enhance the Army’s ability to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition missions at that echelon. (U.S. Army Illustration)
Davidy Hylton/Aviation PEO
In an earlier interview, Gury argued that combat in Ukraine has proven the utility of heavy multicopter drones, which he said are superior for precision maneuvering. More generally he thinks the conflict has demonstrated the need for more portable, lower cost and lower complexity drones that can be quickly built and fielded, and continually adapted via modular architecture to a shifting battlefield.
In an email this October Gury also stressed the importance of C100 payloads enabling “[radio frequency] spectrum awareness, communications relay, and vision-based navigation for survivability in contested environments.”
Given the dramatically differences between the C100 and GhostX, the Army’s final selection for MRR may reveal a lot about how the service weighs their competing qualities.
Small drones for the big drone Air Force?
The 93rd AGOW’s contract also reflects another trend: the same Air Force that pioneered operations of large airplane-style drones costing millions of dollar is now compelled (by opportunity, but also by pressure from above) to consider how it might use much smaller and cheaper ones to achieve cost efficiencies.
New policies announced in July require all the services to stand up programs to study ways to employ small drones, or SUAS. The policies also re-designated the two smallest drone categories (Group 1 and 2) as ‘consumables’ like ammunition so that it’s easier for individual units and lower-ranking officers to procure them, while reducing the training requirements and safety standards to operate them.
Still, small drones aren’t an easy fit for the Air Force because the service’s combat aircraft typically execute missions spanning hundreds or thousands of miles, not the single- or double-digit miles of range of most Group 1 and 2 drones. Setting aside use cases for TACPs described above, the service is considering other ways to use SUAS.
- The Air Force has tested using cargo aircraft and aerial refueling tankers to release SUAS midflight for various missions, ranging from decoy to reconnaissance and one-way attack.
- The Air Force’s Security Forces Center has acquired Teal 2 quadcopters for use in a base security role
- The service is also apparently using Coyote drones to intercept hostile drones more cost-efficiently
- Small UASs may also offer a cost- and time-efficient method to inspect large aircraft and base facilities for damage; or assist in collecting meteorological data.
In time we may see whether the 93rd’s order herald a larger trend integrating Group 1 and 2 drones into Air Force units with specific operational needs—perhaps including more types already vetted by other services.
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