Inside the Pentagon’s unusual $1.1 billion competition to buy 300,000 drones

DETROIT — Military drone pilots tinkered with controllers and quadcopters before the machines took off with a high-pitched buzz on a one-way mission. Operators navigated the drones through abandoned buildings and pine forests until they slammed into their target: a mannequin in military garb. The competition in Fort Benning, Georgia, had a single purpose — to help the Pentagon buy explosive drones.

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