French drone manufacturer Parrot has come a long way from the early days of the drone industry.  Having moved from competing with DJI on the consumer front to focusing on the enterprise market, Parrot is now working to stake a claim to the U.S. military market.

With heightened concerns over the security of drones manufactured overseas – part of U.S. efforts to close gaps in data security – products that meet U.S. military requirements.  Parrot has been engaged in an operational assessment for a Short Range Reconnaissance drone program, and will begin manufacturing prototypes of the drone in the U.S.

“To support Parrot’s commitment to U.S. industry capabilities, Parrot is currently finalizing its U.S. production chain with its partner NEOTech to build its final prototype batch for delivery to the U.S. Army and the Defense Innovation Unit in July 2020. The final prototype assembly includes the installation at NEOTech facility of all software developed by Parrot in Paris (France) ensuring high IP protection with no data dissemination,” says the Parrot blog post. “NeoTech and Parrot are also partnering to achieve the highest quality standard in the industry, to meet the U.S. Army requirements.”

The following is a Parrot blog post:

Parrot has passed another milestone in the United States Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance drone program. As the final steps of this selection process, Parrot will participate in an operational assessment to support an Army production award decision. In anticipation of an increased demand signal from the Department of Defense, Parrot will start manufacturing prototypes of its dedicated drone in the United States of America.