US Army Selects Croatian Company Orqa to Supply FPV Drones

Srdjan Kovacevic, one of the three founders of Orqa. Photo: Orqa. The Croatian company Orqa, which produces first-person-view (FPV) drones, has been selected as a supplier for the US Army. The company, headquartered in Osijek in eastern Croatia, announced the news on its LinkedIn profile on Thursday. The company confirmed that the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division had selected Orqa following an assessment of several suppliers. “Orqa is delighted to announce that the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division has confirmed an agreement to procure our FPV drones after a focused evaluation of multiple suppliers,” the company said in a LinkedIn post. “Orqa emerged as the chosen provider based on the proven performance of its systems in the field,” it company added. However, details of the agreement have not been disclosed. It is not known how many drones are involved and what the value of the entire deal is. The announcement comes as the US military continues to expand its use and evaluation of small FPV drone systems for tactical applications. The 2nd Infantry Division has also been developing its drone capabilities on the Korean Peninsula, including through recent training involving FPV systems. Founded in Osijek in 2018 by Srdjan Kovacevic, Ivan Jelusic and Vlatko Matijevic, Orqa develops FPV drones and advanced remote-reality technology. The three founders started as enthusiasts involved in FPV drone racing and have since built a company that produces tens of thousands of technologically advanced products. The latest development highlights the growing international role of Croatian-developed drone technology at a time when unmanned systems are becoming increasingly important to modern military operations. In May, Orqa announced that, in cooperation with US cyber and defence solutions provider By Light Professional IT Services, it had established Orqa US, a company focused on drone production for the US market. The move was a strategic response to the requirements of new US Department of Defence programmes, including the Drone Dominance plan, Orqa said at the time. Building on its capacity to produce up to 280,000 drones annually in Osijek, Orqa has been extending this model globally through an international manufacturing network. Orqa US is headquartered in Palo Alto, in Silicon Valley, and has a 17,000-square-metre production facility in Florida. The company has already established manufacturing partnerships in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.