Purple Rhombus Awarded SBIR Phase III Contract

Production-scale attritable UAS for operational experimentation

TEXAS (January 13, 2026) – Purple Rhombus today announced the award of an SBIR Phase III contract from AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force, marking a significant step toward delivering industrial-scale affordable mass for operational use.

Under the contract, Purple Rhombus will deliver an initial tranche of 50 Group 2 attritable unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to multiple units across the Department of War for integration and operational experimentation.

“We’ve proving that existing American factories can produce operationally relevant UAS quickly, affordably, and at volume,” said Mike Benitez, CEO of Purple Rhombus. “This manufacturing model shifts the cost-exchange of affordable mass in America’s favor.”

The Phase III effort builds on a successful SBIR Phase II project that validated Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 9 production methods for low-cost, attritable UAS. That work demonstrated how existing sheet-metal tooling and domestic industrial capacity can be leveraged to enable scalable, production-ready systems.

About Purple Rhombus

Purple Rhombus is an aerospace and defense company focused on industrial-scale affordable mass for the modern battlespace. Purple Rhombus designs, builds, and delivers low-cost unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) engineered for mass production, using tool-path-verified sheet-metal processes that leverage existing factory infrastructure and industrial base capacity.

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