Skyborne Technologies’ Cerberus MI, a drone built to fire 40mm grenades and 12-gauge shotgun rounds, joined the Pentagon’s Blue UAS list on 20 October. The list names the drones cleared for US military purchase. It held 82 entries on 21 October.
Skyborne is an Australian company that set up a US headquarters in Virginia in August 2025. The list carries the drone under Skyborne Technologies USA.
Skyborne says the Cerberus MI was built around the weapon, not fitted with one later. Its three tilting rotor arms absorb the recoil and aim the payload without a gimbal. It carries a five-round 40mm grenade launcher or a ten-round shotgun, then lands, reloads with standard ammunition and flies again. The company puts the cost of an engagement at “hundreds of dollars”.
Skyborne’s figures: an 18 kg airframe, 22 kg fully loaded, 42 minutes in the air without a payload, and a top speed of 54 km/h. Onboard software called Exitus AI picks out targets and works out the shot. Skyborne says the operator approves every engagement. In July 2025 trials, a Cerberus armed with the shotgun brought down four target drones.
A listing is not an order. Skyborne has announced no Cerberus sale, and the list names no customer. The same day, the list of approved components gained a Skyborne battery assembly and five ground-control entries from UXV Technologies. Skyborne names UXV’s SRoC controller as the Cerberus MI’s ground station.
The listing matters beyond the Pentagon. The FCC’s Covered List bars new approvals for drones made abroad, and a Blue UAS listing is one of two exemptions, both running until 1 January 2028.
