Skydio poised to supply first tranche of short-range recon drones to US Army February 9 The Army has chosen to move forward with Skydio's X2D quadcopter for its first round of Short-Range Reconnaissance UAS to be supplied at the platoon level. (Photo courtesy of Skydio) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has chosen California-based drone manufacturer Skydio to continue in a final prototyping phase, which should lead to the company supplying the service’s first tranche of short-range reconnaissance unmanned aircraft systems. The Short-Range Reconnaissance system is a platoon-level, small quadcopter unmanned aircraft that will provide enhanced situational awareness, a spin-off from the Army’s earlier efforts to develop a rucksack-portable UAS.