The U.S. Army has awarded contracts to 10 companies to develop and supply technologies for countering unmanned aircraft. The total potential value of the contracts under the IDIQ program is up to $7 billion.
The contracts were awarded by Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) as part of the Domestic Shield program, which aims to strengthen the protection of U.S. military installations and other facilities against drones. The purchases will also support the JIATF-401 counter-UAS marketplace and other federal government requirements for counter-drone technologies.
Under the new contracts, the U.S. military will gain access to a range of counter-drone technologies, including optical sights that help soldiers engage drones using standard rifles, automated robotic weapon stations, compact radars and long-range surveillance cameras.
The contracts were awarded to 10 companies:
- Allen Control Systems — $500 million;
- Digital Force Technologies — $500 million;
- DroneShield — $500 million;
- Echodyne — $250 million;
- Napatree Technology — $500 million;
- PVP Advanced EO Systems — $250 million;
- RADA Technologies — $500 million;
- SmartShooter — $150 million;
- SRC — $500 million;
- L3Harris WESCAM — $500 million.
The U.S. Army did not disclose the specific allocation of technologies among the companies. JIATF-401 said the procurement framework is intended to cover the counter-drone process from detection, tracking and identification to mitigation.
At the same time, the U.S. military does not plan to rely on a single system. The contracts provide for the use of multiple interoperable solutions that can perform different tasks as part of a layered counter-drone defense.
Separately, JIATF-401 and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration signed a memorandum of understanding to share information on drone threats. The agencies plan to exchange data from their counter-UAS testing to reduce duplicate testing and accelerate the deployment of relevant technologies.
