Swarmbotics AI: Why the US Army is betting on robotic mass

The US Army has awarded Swarmbotics AI a contract to integrate autonomous ground robot swarms into the 1st Cavalry Division. The move aims to provide affordable mass and create tactical dilemmas through high-volume, low-cost robotic formations.

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on February 6, 2026. 

The US Army has selected Swarmbotics AI to develop swarming, small unmanned ground vehicles (sUGVs) as part of its “Transformation in Contact” (TiC) initiative, according to a February 5 Swarmbotics post on LinkedIn. The contract follows the company’s performance at the xTech Overwatch competition, where soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division evaluated various autonomous platforms.

The initiative focuses on “attritable” systems—platforms designed to be inexpensive enough that their loss in combat is acceptable. By deploying heterogeneous swarms, the Army intends to overwhelm adversary defences at a lower cost than traditional, high-end manned platforms.

During the xTech evaluations, the 1st Cavalry Division tested capabilities ranging from ground and airborne autonomy to mission planning. Lt. Col. Nick Rinaldi, competition lead at the Army Applications Laboratory, noted that the process allowed the Army to engage industry on real-world problems and move technologies quickly into soldier formations.

• Further reading on Transformation in Contact initiatives: 
  • Puma LE upgraded with laser target designator – Calibre Defence
  • US Army orders long-range reconnaissance drones – Calibre Defence 

Swarmbotics AI’s approach focuses on creating “mass” to complicate enemy decision-making. Drew Watson, the Chief Technology Officer, stated that while previous demonstrations used approximately 10 robots, upcoming work with the 1st Cavalry Division in 2026 will baseline concepts for deploying hundreds of robots simultaneously. These swarms will likely support complex manoeuvres, including breaching operations.

Why the US Army is betting on autonomous mass

“Mass is our objective, by employing swarms of heterogeneous small sUGVs we create multiple dilemmas for our adversaries at fractions of the cost of exquisite platforms,” Stephen Houghton, CEO of Swarmbotics AI, said.

What exactly does Houghton mean here? Well, there are a few concepts to note and discuss: 

1. Multiple dilemmas: There is an expectation that giving an enemy a lot of problems (dilemmas) will cause some sort of decision paralysis or poor decision-making. This will supposedly give US forces an advantage.
2. sUGV swarms: This is a reflection of the one-to-many paradigm we have touched on before. The idea is to have one person, or a team of people, controlling a lot of autonomous platforms. Rather than one person or team per platform. This is the only way that autonomy can actually increase mass.
3. Beyond exquisite: Armoured platforms are quite expensive with modern tanks costing tens of millions. They also cost a lot to support and move around, especially in the regions that the US Army is expecting to fight. So, the aim is to have some of the US Army’s combat mass come from autonomous platforms that are hopefully cheaper instead.

But does it work? 

That’s the kicker, we don’t know. Multiple dilemmas probably do create problems, if facing a rigid system with a lot of top-down control. However, that doesn’t mean that you are more likely to win. As for swarms and sub-exquisite platforms, Ukraine has made good progress with a high proportion of uncrewed systems, achieving in one case a loss ratio of 1:27 in Kupyansk. But it also made excellent use of its conventional, somewhat exquisite platforms, before circumstances forced a reliance on drones. 

It is reasonable to conclude that if autonomous UGVs can be built to reliably run off-road, find targets, engage them with human oversight, and not cost a lot of money, that it would work. Other countries like South Korea certainly believe so, and Italy’s A2CS concept, as well as the UK’s future plans, both rely on autonomous systems. However, in those cases, a lot of the mass will come from aerial drones. But those are some significant technological hurdles to navigate before autonomous land systems can truly supplement the exquisite. The US Army clearly has faith that Swarmbotics AI can meet those challenges, and it is certainly a development that we will watch with interest.

So, whether it works or not, it seems likely that the next US war will start with massed autonomous systems. Whether or not that is the force that will end the war is another matter.

Calibre comment: What is Russia doing with drones?

Russia is establishing what it calls Unmanned Systems Forces, which implies an additional branch of each service. There has been some recent speculation from Ukraine about what these units will do, and how many of them there are. Leaving that aside, what is clear is that Russia’s Rubicon Centre is causing a lot of damage. 

The Rubicon Centre is a training and operational unit specialising in uncrewed platforms. Unlike other Russian drone units, it is backed by the Russian MoD and spends its time developing tactics and techniques to hunt Ukrainian enablers. This is common within Russian military thought, which seeks to identify the factors making an enemy strong and target them. In Ukraine, this means killing drone crews and targeting electronic warfare systems. Doing this gives Russia’s reconnaissance and strike systems a window of opportunity to degrade the frontline positions for more effective offensives. 

If you would like to read more on how exquisite platforms are making room for mass, please consider reading these articles, it really helps Calibre Defence grow: 

• Project ASGARD; the British Army’s path to doubling lethality – Calibre Defence
• Kizilelma: Turkey hits major air combat milestones – Calibre Defence 

The lead image shows some of the sUGVs from Swarmbotics AI. Credit: Swarmbotics AI.