ADK BATTLELAB PRESENTS

FUTURE FLAG
DRONE WARS

JUNE 1 TO 5, 2026  |  LEWIS, NY

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APPLY

OPERATIONAL BRIEFING

ADK Battlelab will host a week-long drone operations event that will fuse competitive FPV racing with real-world tactical UAS mission scenarios. Set in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, this is where commercial drone racing will meet defense technology.

Four distinct operations will challenge pilots across the full spectrum of drone operations, from high-speed open-class racing to ISR-enabled precision strike missions against static and moving targets.

This event is open to FPV racing teams, defense and tactical UAS operators, CUAS vendors, and commercial drone companies. The mission is competition and collaboration. Every aspect of the sUAS space will come together to test their technology, develop TTPs, and continue building a better drone defense ecosystem around the world.

ADK Battlelab command platform with American flags and Adirondack mountain backdrop

PARTNERS

Unconventional Concepts, Inc.

Engineering & Technical Consulting

Unconventional Concepts, Inc. (UCI) is a professional engineering and technical consulting firm specializing in issues related to Counter Terrorism analysis and preparedness response operations and national security.

Areas of expertise encompass development and transitioning of technologies from and to civilian, commercial, military, and government sectors. UCI is especially adept at finding and transitioning technologies that are developed for very specific high technology applications, but can be adapted and implemented in areas that were not their original purpose.

VISIT UNCONVENTIONAL-INC.COM

Overmatch Uncrewed

Uncrewed Systems & Autonomous Operations

Overmatch Uncrewed builds operator proficiency and validates systems under real-world conditions. They specialize in sUAS training, systems testing, and rapid prototyping to ensure that platforms and payloads are proven before they reach the field, not after. From initial development through operational evaluation, Overmatch compresses the timeline from concept to deployment-ready.

REACH OUT

MIDRT

Military International Drone Racing Tournament

MIDRT is the premier military FPV drone racing championship; it unites allied nations for competitive aerial racing. The tournament combines speed, precision, and teamwork in a high-intensity environment; their goal is to advance international collaboration in unmanned systems capabilities and foster STEM education pathways into defense and aviation.

VISIT MIDRT.ORG

AFRL Future Flag

Air Force Research Laboratory

AFRL Future Flag is a series of joint experimentation events led by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate. Future Flag brings together military operational units, industry partners, and allied nations to test and evaluate emerging technologies, including autonomous systems, CUAS, and AI-enabled platforms, in operationally relevant scenarios.

VISIT AFRL.AF.MIL

Federal Bureau of Prisons

U.S. Department of Justice

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The BOP is actively evaluating CUAS and drone detection technologies to address the growing threat of unmanned systems to facility security and perimeter defense operations.

VISIT BOP.GOV

OPERATIONS

01

Open-Class Drone Racing

Traditional FPV drone racing. Open qualifying heats Tuesday and Wednesday, finals and championship race Thursday evening. Fastest cumulative lap times determine seeding through to the championship.

MON Setup • TUE/WED Qualifying • THU Finals
02

CubePilot Aerial Intercept Competition

Hosted by CubePilot: an aerial intercept competition in which REDFOR fixed-wing aircraft are deployed into a defended airspace. BLUEFOR teams equipped with Herelink and terminal guidance must intercept and defeat the inbound threat before it penetrates the defensive perimeter.

TUE/WED • 30-min sign-up slots
03

Moving Vehicle Intercept

Dynamic targeting against a ground convoy within a defined AO. Positively ID the HVT and execute a simulated kinetic strike before the convoy exits the area of operations. ISR drones strongly recommended.

TUE/WED • 30-min sign-up slots
04

Fixed Infrastructure Long-Range Engagement

Precision strike against a static target at approximately 2 km within VLOS. Scoring based on strike precision and post-strike battle damage assessment. Combined ISR + strike drone operations encouraged.

TUE/WED • 30-min sign-up slots

PAST EVENT COVERAGE

OPERATIONS TIMELINE

MONDAY JUNE 1

  • Arrival and team check-in
  • Mandatory equipment and safety inspection
  • Mandatory Pilot Safety Orientation and RSO Briefing
  • Non-standard frequency requests must be submitted and approved prior to the event
  • Race course configuration
  • Open practice flights

TUESDAY JUNE 2

  • Mandatory Pilot Safety Orientation and RSO Briefing
  • Open-class drone racing qualifying heats begin
  • Tactical operations open: 30-min sign-up slots all day
  • CubePilot Aerial Intercept Competition engagements
  • Moving Vehicle Intercept missions
  • Fixed Infrastructure Long-Range Engagement windows
  • CUAS vendor detection operations active

WEDNESDAY JUNE 3

  • Mandatory Pilot Safety Orientation and RSO Briefing
  • Qualifying heats continue
  • Tactical operation time slots continue all day
  • Vendor demonstrations on main course
  • CUAS detection operations continue

THURSDAY JUNE 4

  • Mandatory Pilot Safety Orientation and RSO Briefing
  • AM: Warmups and final practice
  • PM: Racing finals and championship race
  • Evening: Awards and results

FRIDAY JUNE 5

  • Teardown and site cleanup
  • Equipment pack-out
  • Departures and closeout

VENDOR EXHIBITION

Drone Wars 2026 will put your products in the hands of the operators, engineers, and decision-makers shaping the future of unmanned systems. With a full week of live flight operations, your technology will be exposed to real-world conditions with immediate feedback from the warfighter.

On-Site Booth Space

Dedicated booth slots available all week. Set up shop alongside the action and engage directly with FPV pilots, tactical UAS operators, and defense technology professionals.

Live Demo Time Slots

Reserved demonstration windows on the main course. Fly your platforms, showcase your software, or run your hardware in front of a captive, technical audience.

Field Your Own Team

Non-military and commercial vendors are encouraged to enter teams in both racing and tactical operations.

Request your vendor slot for Drone Wars 2026

REQUEST A BOOTH
Aerial view of ADK Battlelab operations site in the Adirondacks with tents, vehicles, and staging areas

CUAS OPERATIONS

BYOCUAS: five days of live targets, real terrain, real data.

Drone Wars 2026 offers a unique opportunity for CUAS technology companies to test and validate detection and tracking systems against real, unscripted drone operations across four distinct mission profiles, from high-speed FPV racing to long-range ISR sorties.

Live Flight Environment

Deploy your equipment during all four operations. Real targets, real RF signatures, real operational conditions in complex Adirondack terrain.

Diverse Target Set

Track everything from sub-250g racing quads to long-range fixed-wing platforms operating across multiple frequency bands, flight profiles, and mission types.

Detect & Track Only

CUAS participation is restricted to passive detection and tracking. No active countermeasures: no jamming, spoofing, or kinetic defeat systems. This ensures a safe operating environment while giving your sensors the workout they need.

Bring your CUAS systems to the proving ground

GET IN TOUCH

GET INVOLVED

Don't just watch. Find your role and get in the fight. Drone Wars 2026 is built for participation. Whether you're fielding a team, testing new technology, or putting hardware in operators' hands, there's a seat at this table for you.

Partners

Organizations collaborating on event design, logistics, or mission scenarios. Partners help shape the operational environment and bring institutional weight to the exercise.

Team Members

Field a team and compete. Racing, intercept, convoy strike, long-range engagement. Pick your operation and bring your pilots, aircraft, and game plan.

Experimenters

Bring something you're building and put it to the test in a live operational environment. New airframes, autonomy stacks, sensor payloads, software. If you want real-world data, this is the place to get it.

Technology Providers

You're not here to test your own drones. You're here to put your technology in warfighters' hands and let them fly it, break it, and tell you what they think. Bring your hardware and let operators put it through its paces.

Observers

Military leaders, program managers, acquisition professionals, and allied partners who want eyes on emerging UAS capabilities in an operationally relevant setting. Watch, learn, and connect.

Industry Exhibitors

Set up a booth and showcase your products alongside live flight operations. This isn't a trade show floor. It's an active flight line, and your audience is the community that builds, flies, and fights with drones.

Ready to find your role?

GET IN TOUCH

COLLABORATE

This isn't a spectator event. It's a working environment.

Drone Wars exists to put people in the same room who would otherwise never meet: pilots, engineers, warfighters, vendors, experimenters, and builders. The goal isn't just competition. We want the team with a new guidance system to talk with the team that builds airframes. We want the CUAS vendor to share data with the racing pilot who just flew through their detection grid. We want connections that turn into collaboration, partnerships, and better technology.

Find Your Team

Need a pilot? Need an airframe? Need someone who can write autonomy code? This is where solo operators become teams and teams become something bigger.

Test Together

Bring something you've built and pair it with someone else's capability. Software meets hardware. Sensors meet platforms. Ideas meet reality.

Cross-Pollinate

The racing community knows things the defense world doesn't. The defense world has problems the racing community can solve. When they talk, both sides get better.

Build What's Next

The partnerships forged at Drone Wars won't end on Friday. Instead, the next generation of drone defense capability starts in a field in the Adirondacks, among people who showed up ready to work.

Want to connect with teams, builders, and operators before the event?

START A CONVERSATION

LEGAL / REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

Own Equipment

Teams responsible for UAS platforms, batteries, chargers, and support equipment.

Safety Inspection

All aircraft must pass pre-flight safety inspection during Monday check-in.

Liability Waiver

Signed liability waiver and assumption-of-risk acknowledgment required.

Frequency Coordination

Non-standard frequency requests must be submitted and approved prior to the event.

CONOPS Briefing

Tactical operation teams (Operations 2, 3, 4) must brief their concept of operations before each engagement window.

Download the full event one-pager for complete details:

DOWNLOAD ONE-PAGER (PDF)