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The Pentagon has outlined the first 11 companies to be crowned leaders of its Drone Dominance competition, setting them on a path toward orders of up to tens of thousands of small uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).

The Defense Department’s Drone Dominance effort aims to field more than 300,000 drones over 18 months, with $1.1 billion set to be spent. The program is broken down into a series of competition, called Gauntlets, wherein competitors will run their systems through scenarios devised and operated by military personnel.

The first scenario wrapped in early March and the department on March 6 announced the 11 leaders, in order: Skycutter, Neros, Napatree, ModalAI, Auterion, Ukrainian Defense Drones, Griffon Aerospace, Nokturnal AI, Halo Aeronautics, Ascent Aerosystems and Farage Precision. These companies competed against another 14 in the gauntlet. As part of the first phase, 30,000 drones will be ordered.

The list is a “snapshot of how the invited vendors performed against the mission vignettes designed by the warfighters. We are not buying drones based on paper requirements. We are buying drones based on how they performed in the missions,” the Pentagon says.

The first gauntlet included three scenarios: long-distance strike, urban strike and kinetic strike, the program’s website says. A second competition is set for August focusing on counter-UAS missions.

According to the program, competitors are encouraged to revise their approaches and return for the next scenario—with the first round akin to the box score in the first inning of a baseball game to be continued.

The program will also hold an industry day March 25-26 at Camp Blanding, Florida, to continue outreach to drone companies.