The C100 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) by Performance Drone Works (PDW) has been added to the U.S. Army Aviation Museum’s collection, recognizing the aircraft’s operational history while the platform continues to be fielded across Army formations worldwide.
The C100 was unveiled at the museum on October 24, 2026, during the Models & Machines show and Training Support Facility Open House at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Before becoming a museum display, the aircraft was used to search ahead of teams, help locate Soldiers awaiting recovery, and deliver first aid supplies and water to personnel requiring assistance during operations in the United States and overseas.
The compact, man-packable C100 features an open, modular architecture that allows operators to exchange payloads according to mission requirements. The platform supports reconnaissance, surveillance, communications relay, spectrum awareness, cargo delivery, and organic fires support, providing small teams with capabilities that can be adapted as missions change in the field.
Bryant Macfarlane, Director of the Army Aviation Museum, commented, “Preserving aviation history can’t just be a boneyard salvage mission decades down the road; strong PM and industry partnerships ensure rapid transformations like the C100 are captured in the dirt before today’s innovation becomes yesterday’s forgotten blueprint.”
The C100 also supports the U.S. Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative, through which Soldiers use, test, and refine technology in the field. Feedback from training and deployments informs PDW’s work on aircraft performance, mission systems, software, and payload integration as operational requirements change.
James Slider, CEO of PDW, added, “Soldiers earned this aircraft its place in the museum by putting it to work on real missions. They continue to show us what works, what needs to improve, and what they need next. Our job is to turn that experience into capability they can use. That’s how we continue executing against our mission of putting decisive airpower in the hands of every operator.”
Established in 1956 and formally opened to the public in 1968, the U.S. Army Aviation Museum’s collection includes more than 160 military aircraft, tracing aviation history from the Wright brothers and World War I to Apache and Black Hawk helicopters. The C100 joins this collection while other aircraft of the same platform continue to support Army operations.
