Best Drone Team Competition

Put your tech in front of the teams who use it.

Demonstrate your equipment for the special operations teams it's built for, and receive their feedback that helps drive your company's innovation forward.

Choose your tier

Why take part

Three days that move your roadmap.

The right audience, in one place

You put your system in front of the special operations teams who'd carry it, and the investors and program offices around them, such as SOCOM's SOF Ventures, Private Capital Investor Cohort (PCIC) and others:

Defense Autonomous Working Group (DAWG)
Purpose Built Attritable System (PBAS)
Drone Dominance
Program Executive Office, SOF Warrior (PEO SOF Warrior)
Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI)

Feedback you can act on

Charlie tier and above receive a written, Government-approved assessment drawn from the teams' hands-on time with your system, delivered after the event. You learn what the warfighter needs and what to fix.

Access that usually takes years

Reaching these teams and offices normally takes years and the right relationships. Here, a strong application and a real mission fit are the way in.

A team member watching a drone in the field

Ways to take part

Each tier sets your footprint and how you demonstrate. Nothing is due unless your company is selected.

	Delta $5,000 12 spots	Charlie $10,000 10 spots	Bravo $20,000 5 spots	Alpha $50,000 3 spots
Capability packet	●	●	●	●
On-site pad and signage	●	●	●	●
Evening dinners	●	●	●	●
Feedback document		●	●	●
Thursday flight block		●	●	●
Friday open range			●	●
Premium front pad and placement				●
Featured in the event building				●
Event t-shirt logo				●
First right of refusal, next year				●
Tier details
Representatives	2	2	2	4
Pad footprint	12×12	12×12	12×12	20×30
Flight scheduling	None	Last pick	Second pick	First pick
	Select Delta	Select Charlie	Select Bravo	Select Alpha

How this works. You take part as a vendor, separate from the drone competition itself. The tier you choose covers your exhibit footprint and how you present on-site.

Additional Information

Included at every tier

On-site pad and signage

A reserved pad where you keep a static display of your equipment, available for viewing Wednesday through Friday. Bring a tent, banner, or other signage that best displays your company.

Evening dinners

The corporate sponsors host the evening dinners through the week, with catered food and an open bar. You attend as a guest, alongside the competing teams, program offices, cadre, and other distinguished visitors. Vendors take part Wednesday through Friday, though the dinner invitation opens on Monday.

Feedback document

A written, company-specific summary of the Government-approved feedback from the teams' hands-on time with your system. Delivered after the event.

Capability packet

A printed and digital profile of your company that Watchtower puts in front of the program offices and the SOCOM PCIC. Space scales with your tier: two pages for Alpha, a full page for Bravo, and a subsection for Charlie and Delta.

Representatives

The number of your team badged for on-site access, each with a vendor lanyard for the week. You get four passes with Alpha and two with every other tier.

Demonstration

Thursday flight block

You hand your system to the special operations teams and let them use it with little or no instruction and no sales pitch. The bar comes from 1SFC and the operators themselves: if they can't put it to work in about thirty minutes, it isn't what they need. Every team gets real time with your system, one company at a time.

Friday open range

Your open demonstration on the range, with generous time to show what your system can really do. That might mean dropping inert payloads or striking targets by direct impact. Nothing explosive is used. Whatever you'd like to demonstrate, reach out and we'll work with 1SFC and Range Control to make it happen where we can.

Flight scheduling

The order you choose your flight times in. Alpha picks first, Bravo next, and Charlie after that. When the calendar opens to your tier, slots go first come, first served, so the sooner you book, the better your choice.

Alpha advantages

Premium front pad and placement

The north entrance, where everyone comes in. Your system is the first thing they see and the last they pass on the way out. The other tiers sit on the south side. Your pad runs 20 by 30, the largest on site, while every other tier gets 12 by 12.

Featured in the event building

The screens sit in the main area of the event building, the space everyone passes through on their way to the distinguished visitor lounge. Your logo and media run there on a loop, next to the sponsors. Send us the logo or video you'd like featured.

Event t-shirt logo

Your logo on the event shirts, alongside the sponsors. Every competitor and the event staff wear them through the week, so your name travels the site the whole competition.

First right of refusal

Your place at next year's event is yours to hold before it opens to anyone else. As spots get harder to come by, you're already in.

Let's talk

Get the right technology into the right hands

Watchtower believes the right technology should reach the right hands, and a company's budget shouldn't be what stands in the way. If cost is the only thing holding you back, tell us and we'll try to work something out. The same goes if you want something custom or would like to sponsor part of the event. Not sure which tier fits? Send your equipment details and we'll help you choose.

Email the team

Watchtower cosponsors the Best Drone Team Competition. Participation does not imply endorsement by 1SFC, the U.S. Army, USSOCOM, or the U.S. Government.