14 teams integrated the MAVLink-Military dialect, verifying cross-vendor systems end to end and flying working demos for government and industry guests
MANASSAS, Va — Jul 30, 2026 — Engineering teams from 14 U.S. and international companies, several of them direct competitors, completed 7 working integrations of MAVLink-Military (MAVLink-M), the open interoperability standard for military uncrewed systems, during a two-day hackathon that demonstrated industry consensus behind the new dialect. The event was hosted by the Dronecode Foundation at Auterion’s Manassas, Virginia manufacturing facility and had 38 attendees representing industry and government.
Auterion supported the event as sponsor and host, reflecting its long-standing role in the open-source autonomy ecosystem. Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier created MAVLink, PX4, QGroundControl, and Pixhawk — foundational technologies stewarded through the Dronecode community and used across the global drone industry.
The results mark a decisive step for a sector at risk of fragmenting. As requirements for uncrewed systems coverage across government and industry programs have grown worldwide, warfighters are looking for trusted solutions that scale at the speed of war. MAVLink-M offers a future with one open specification, neutrally governed, where interoperability between payloads and aircraft is the norm. This week, that future ran on real hardware.
Participants spanned the full stack, from airframe and payload makers to communications and software providers:
Applied Aeronautics
Ascend Engineering
Artificer Group
Auterion
Carlson Software / Camflite / Viter Systems
DeltaQuad
Firestorm Labs
IS4S
Neros Technologies
Production Systems Automation
ORQA
Rajant
RIIS
UVIFY
The event also drew support from the Drone Dominance Program, which backs industry-led efforts to solve interoperability, represented by Dr. Erin Cherry, Senior Advisor at the Test Resource Management Center.
MAVLink-M is an open MAVLink 2 dialect that gives command systems, aircraft and payloads from any vendor a common language. Its deepest coverage today is payload command and control, and because the dialect lives in a reserved ID block, it remains fully compatible with the civilian MAVLink protocol already proven on more than 1 million vehicles.
“In less than 48 hours, members of the Dronecode community integrated their drone platforms, proving that competing vendors can solve interoperability problems faster in the open than any of them can alone. With MAVLink-M we are building toward a future where cross-vendor plug-and-play payloads are the default, not a custom integration project.” said Ramón Roche, Executive Director of Dronecode Foundation, part of The Linux Foundation.
The hackathon was the second in-person event after the official launch of the MAVLink-Military working group in May. Over two days of hacking and one day of field demonstrations, participants integrated the latest draft of the standard across flight controllers, payloads, and ground control stations with a neutral test payload verifying every implementation end-to-end. This multi-organization effort proves MAVLink-M will provide the foundation for vendors to build once impossible capabilities on boundary pushing platforms.
Dronecode Platinum members shared their perspectives on the decisive win for the ecosystem:
“MAVLink was created to give robotic systems a common language that builders could rely on. MAVLink-M brings that same foundation to defense, where every integration delay slows down capability for the operator. Payload interoperability has to move at mission speed, giving warfighters trusted capabilities they can integrate, validate, and field faster,” said Lorenz Meier, CEO and Founder of Auterion.
“Defence organisations need systems that work together from day one. At DeltaQuad, we believe open standards are essential to making that possible, which is why we actively contribute to MAVLink-M together with the Dronecode community. By enabling platforms, payloads, AI and ground control systems to work together seamlessly, each company can focus on what it does best while giving operators greater flexibility and faster access to integrated capabilities,” said Sander Smeets, CEO of DeltaQuad.
Dronecode members and executives from participating organizations underscored what the results mean for the industry:
“As a Northern European and Finnish company, our geographic and strategic reality demands uncompromising resilience and interoperability,” said Taneli Poranen, Founder and CTO of Artificer Group. “We guard and arm the eastern border of NATO, meaning our uncrewed systems and dual-use products must operate flawlessly alongside allied forces from day one. By adopting open standards like MAVLink-M, we ensure that our technologies seamlessly integrate into a unified defense ecosystem, allowing us to deliver rapid, interoperable capabilities that strengthen the entire alliance.”
“Firestorm is committed to open ecosystems to foster innovation, events like this MAVLink-M hackathon allow companies to come together and collaborate openly to rapidly accelerate the advancement of critical industry standards,” said Ian Muceus, Firestorm Co-Founder and CTO.
“Today, every new payload means custom tooling, custom engineering, and weeks of integration work, repeated for every platform it touches. A modular architecture built on a common, low-cost electromechanical components and simple, standard FPV first protocol changes that equation. That’s why we built APEX. When drones and payloads conform to one open interface, integration becomes a repeatable process instead of a bespoke project. APEX’s device classes, support for analog video formats common in FPV, and its ability to encapsulate protocols like MAVLink are a couple of the reasons it delivers on this, all in service of the ultimate goal: getting operators more options, faster,” said Olaf Hichwa, Founder and CTO of Neros Technologies.
“Modern defence depends on systems from many different suppliers working together seamlessly. Seeing so many companies collaborate to validate MAVLink-M in such a short space of time shows that our industry is committed to open interoperability as the fastest path to delivering capability for operators. Orqa is proud to support that effort and help build an ecosystem where innovation, competition and compatibility can all thrive together,” said Srdjan Kovacevic, Co-Founder and CEO of Orqa.
“Mission success depends on resilient communications and interoperability. Rajant is proud to support the Dronecode Foundation and initiatives like MAVLink-M that advance open standards across the autonomous systems industry. Our work in swarm communications and distributed edge intelligence is built on the belief that open ecosystems accelerate innovation and enable more capable, mission-ready solutions,” said Robert J. Schena, CEO, Rajant Corporation.
“The MAVLink-M Hackathon demonstrated what can happen when industry, government, and the open-source community come together to solve real operational challenges. We learned a great deal from the technical work and, just as importantly, from the exchange of ideas among the participants. MAVLink-M has the potential to provide a common, interoperable foundation that can accelerate innovation, reduce fragmentation, and help move advanced autonomous systems from development into real-world deployment,” said Robert Cheek, Chief Operating Officer and Board Member, UVIFY, and Board Member, Dronecode Foundation.
The working group intends to lock the current draft of the standard soon. Then they will work on defining a neutral method for validating cross-vendor implementations between the flight controller and payload. Future events are being planned to demonstrate the full capabilities of the dialect.
About the Dronecode Foundation
The Dronecode Foundation has served as a neutral standards body for the drone industry since 2014, stewarding open source projects including PX4 Autopilot, Pixhawk, MAVLink and QGroundControl. A project of the Linux Foundation, Dronecode brings more than 25 years of proven open collaboration practices to autonomous systems.
About Applied Aeronautics
Applied Aeronautics is a U.S.-based designer, manufacturer, and engineering partner specializing in affordable, mission-ready unmanned aircraft systems for defense, government, and commercial operators. Founded in 2014, the company has deployed more than 1,000 aircraft across 55+ countries, supporting ISR, critical infrastructure inspection, public safety, and advanced research applications. Applied Aeronautics supports state and federal government agencies as well as commercial customers with highly adaptable UAS platforms designed around open architecture principles, a focus on delivering advanced capability at low cost, and resilient supply chain strategies that avoid single-source dependencies. In addition to aircraft production, the company provides engineering, integration, software, BVLOS, and operational support services, enabling rapid development and deployment of mission-specific capabilities tailored to real-world operational requirements.
About Ascend Engineering
Ascend Engineering is a Chicago-based software and engineering firm specializing in drone technology. As a group of UAV software engineering consultants, Ascend Engineering helps companies build and integrate UAV projects into their workflows. The company offers comprehensive services from autopilot development to backend integration. Founded by industry experts, the company is committed to advancing UAV technology and providing tailored solutions for businesses looking to leverage drones in their operations.
About Artificer Group
Oy Artificer Group Ltd is a Finland based, high-growth Nordic defense tech group specializing in dual-use products and systems. Powered by an experienced team and a proprietary intellectual property (IPR) portfolio, the company bridges the gap between commercial viability and national security. The group develops, manufactures, and tests a broad spectrum of advanced defense technologies—ranging from multidomain uncrewed aerial and ground systems to disruptive ballistics and tactical equipment—delivering independent, agile, and scalable engineering solutions. To further support allied partners, Artificer Group is forming a licensing alliance for bi-directional technology transfer between the Nordics and the US, and is establishing a US sales and design company to ensure smooth integration for NDAA-compliant future manufacturing.
About Auterion
Auterion is an international defense software company and leading provider of AI‑powered drone solutions. Its open, modular autonomy stack powers air, land and sea platforms for governments and enterprises worldwide. Based in Arlington, Virginia and in Munich, Germany, Auterion is committed to enabling resilient, autonomous defense capabilities across the transatlantic partnership.
About Camflite, Carlson Software, and Viter Systems
Camflite, Carlson Software, and Viter Systems are proud to be part of the Dronecode Foundation Hackathon hosted by Auterion. Camflite, founded in 2012, specializes in designing and manufacturing advanced drones for commercial applications. Over the years, we have evolved from producing large heavy-lift drones to developing compact OWA drones, continually advancing our technological capabilities. In line with our America First philosophy, Camflite proudly partners with Carlson Software, a company with over 45 years of experience serving the surveying industry. With their extensive user base and global reach, Carlson has been at the forefront of the drone revolution, and together we are proudly manufacturing drones in Maysville, Kentucky. Viter Systems was established by a team of American and Ukrainian experts specializing in drone, lidar, GPS, and military technologies while leveraging partnerships across academia and industry. Our network of manufacturers and laboratories in Ukraine delivers battle-tested solutions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and leads in rapid-iteration and scalable manufacturing. While our current focus is on aerial drones and related technologies, we maintain strong ties to other aerospace sectors.
About DeltaQuad
DeltaQuad is a leading manufacturer of long-range electric VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, providing autonomous aerial intelligence solutions for defence, public safety and critical infrastructure. Designed and manufactured in the Netherlands, DeltaQuad’s open, modular platform enables rapid deployment, interoperability and seamless payload integration for mission-critical operations worldwide.
For more information, visit www.deltaquad.com.
About Firestorm Labs
The mission of Firestorm Labs is to equip warfighters with mission-critical capabilities at the point of need. Its xCell platforms deliver containerized expeditionary manufacturing capabilities, enabling production and sustainment of not only its proprietary modular, rapidly configurable unmanned systems, but also parts, components, and partner platforms. Learn more at launchfirestorm.com.
About IS4S
Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc. (IS4S) is a unique employee-owned C-corporation small business that provides a wide range of engineering and management solutions to government, military, and commercial customers. Founded in 2008, we specialize in systems engineering and integration, software development, open systems architectures, computational physics, additive manufacturing, production, and system design agent acquisition. Our mission is to solve important problems for our customers in an environment where doing the right thing is more important than profit, and where our company is fully owned and operated by ethical, motivated employees, or, as we like to call them: integrators. IS4S was founded by experienced engineers and managers who realize the need to ensure that our government, military, and commercial customers have an alternative to the defense contractor “status quo.” Our approach to systems integration and development is based on a time-proven premise: giving the customer the best value solution is always the right answer. We believe that there is no better way to build our business than to build our customer’s business with high value, technically innovative solutions, and services.
About Neros Technologies
Neros Technologies designs and manufactures FPV drone systems for defense applications, and has major contracts with the Army, Marine Corps, as well as contracts with every component of SOCOM and half a dozen allied countries. They are rapidly scaling America’s drone industrial base through a resilient, adversary-free supply chain.
About Production Systems Automation
Production Systems Automation (PSA) designs and builds application-specific small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS) and integrates custom automation and robotics from three locations across Pennsylvania. Working in more than 100,000 square feet of advanced manufacturing space, PSA’s engineering team delivers NDAA and ITAR-compliant builds, custom airframes, in-house PCB design and fabrication, and PX4-based autopilot solutions, then produce them at scale entirely in the USA. PSA’s UAS team has built defense systems for more than 12 years and champions open, interoperable autonomy for the operator.
About ORQA
Orqa is one of the largest UAV/drone manufacturers in the world, producing components and integrated systems for customers in over 50 markets worldwide, including 24 NATO member states. All Orqa products are made without the use of any Chinese key components; the company’s vertically integrated production model ensures every important element is designed, engineered, and built in-house, making their supply chain immune to geopolitical tensions. In 2026 Orqa was ranked #135 overall – and #2 in Aerospace & Defense – in The Financial Times’ FT1000 list of Europe’s 1000 fastest-growing companies.
About Rajant
Rajant Corporation is a full-stack communications technology company and the pioneer of Kinetic Mesh® networking. Its Mesh-Over-Everything architecture unifies disparate communications systems to create cohesive, self-optimizing networks that support critical industrial and defense applications. By bringing intelligence to the edge, Rajant enables autonomous, resilient communications that operate wherever people, machines, and data move.
About RIIS
Research Into Internet Systems (RIIS) is a custom software development company, specializing in UAVs, based in Troy, Michigan.
About UVIFY
UVIFY is a global drone and physical AI company with operations in the United States and South Korea. We develop autonomous aerial systems, swarm platforms, and platform-agnostic perception technologies for defense, industrial inspection, research, public safety, and large-scale entertainment. UVIFY xEye can be deployed across drones, mobile and legged robots, humanoids, vehicles, and wearable systems, enabling intelligent navigation and operation in complex environments. Through open standards such as MAVLink-M, UVIFY is helping make next-generation autonomous systems more interoperable, reliable, and deployable.