The Pentagon isn’t dabbling in drones anymore; it’s scaling them. And rapidly.
Since Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks introduced Replicator¹, a push to field multiple thousands of autonomous systems in 18–24 months, drones have moved from a side project to a primary focus across air, land, and sea missions.
Navigating Rapid Growth
The new pace of development won’t just change procurement and engineering processes; it will reshape the cybersecurity burden on every company that designs, integrates, or supports these systems.
The ecosystem is expanding just as quickly. The Blue UAS² program maintains a rolling list of cleared NDAA-compliant, cyber-vetted drones and components. In addition, DIU has streamlined the path for platforms validated under AUVSI’s Green UAS to graduate into Blue, shortening the time-to-field for trusted systems.
Because the defensive side must scale, too, new strategies for countering drone systems are underway.
As drone adoption rises, so do the expectations for cyber maturity across the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). For vendors, being fast and innovative alone won't cut it; it is now critical to be demonstrably secure.
Why CMMC Level 2 is Now Fundamental
Handling Defense Data.
Drones and robotics collect, process, and transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). This can be geospatial imagery, mission routes, engineering specs, telemetry, and other data. Under the CMMC final rule (32 CFR Part 170), if your UAS stack touches CUI at any point, from payload to ground control station (GCS) to cloud, Level 2 applies.
Integration with DoW Systems.
Robotics and UAS rarely live in isolation. They interface with networks, command-and-control links, and mission systems. CMMC requires you to define the scope and maintain a living System Security Plan (SSP) with supporting artifacts.
Supply Chain Security.
At the end of the day, drones are systems-of-systems. They include: autopilots, radios, optics, GNSS modules, edge computing, mobile apps, and cloud services, to name a few. Each supplier is a potential ingress path for bad actors. This is why the rule creates a flow-down expectation where subs handling CUI must also carry the appropriate CMMC status, not just the primes.
Drones = High-Value Targets.
Autonomous systems carry valuable data and software, such as live feeds, flight logs, models, firmware, and mission plans, making them a high-value target for espionage. DoW’s new counter-UAS strategy explicitly acknowledges this threat picture, which includes nation-state and proxy actors. Needless to say, this will only grow in complexity over time.
Protecting Intellectual Property.
Advanced innovative weapons tech can be used against us if not secured. This is why CMMC isn’t just about securing government data; it safeguards a developer's intellectual property.
By enforcing access control, configuration management, and secure update practices that block tampering and theft, trade secrets remain intact.
Contract Eligibility.
As we've shared in a previous article³, CMMC is rapidly becoming a DoW contract condition wherever CUI is in scope. Contracts will require a Level 2 self-assessment or a Level 2 certification assessment by a C3PAO, depending on the program. Even if your tech is outstanding, failure to meet these requirements can deem your business ineligible⁴.
The Bottom Line
In this context, CMMC Level 2 isn’t optional for companies that touch CUI, it's the cost of business - the price of admission to a world of dynamic and exciting new programs.
If this is you, reach out to us today to book your CMMC assessment.
Notes:
¹ Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' Remarks: "Unpacking the Replicator Initiative" at the Defense News Conference (As Delivered)
² Blue UAS Cleared List
³ Lockheed’s Big Warning: Get CMMC Certified or Get Left Behind
⁴ Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program
