# Army Accelerates Unmanned Systems Adoption

The Army established Task Force Easy, led by Col. Michael Penn, to speed development and operational adoption of small unmanned aerial systems, one-way-attack drones, and unmanned ground vehicles across the U.S. military. Its focus on rapid iteration, training, standards, and combat evaluation signals a potential market for affordable, adaptable systems and supporting services, but the reports identify no solicitation, funding amount, or procurement timeline.

- Contractors offering adaptable unmanned systems, training, or evaluation capabilities can assess how their offerings align with the task force’s stated focus; the signals do not establish a specific procurement opportunity or schedule.
- Separately, lawmakers requested VA and Oracle records supporting an increase in the electronic health record modernization contract ceiling from almost $10 billion to nearly $27 billion. Responses are requested by **October 30, 2026** (14 days from the current date), making this a near-term records deadline for the parties involved.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military, Healthcare
**Published:** October 15, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Army (Army)
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- Task Force Easy
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- House Veterans’ Affairs Committee

### Vendors
- Oracle (Prime contractor)

### Key Quotes
> It’s not just about buying 1,000 drones, but it’s really about building institutional and industrial engine that’s going to learn, update, and build better capabilities faster than we have in the past.
> — Col. Michael Penn, Task Force Easy commander

### Sources
- [U.S. military debuts new Task Force Easy to enable drone tech ‘adaptation dominance’ | DefenseScoop](https://defensescoop.com/2026/10/14/military-drone-tech-task-force-easy) - DefenseScoop
- [U.S. military debuts new Task Force Easy to enable drone tech ‘adaptation dominance’ | FedScoop](https://fedscoop.com/radio/the-pentagon-recently-established-a-new-task-force-thats-charged-with-rapidly-iterating-and-advancing-weaponized-drones-and-small-uncrewed-ground-vehicles-across-the-u-s-military) - FedScoop