Pentagon task force, Army announce billions in counter-drone tech awards

Military officials announced a slew of awards to several defense companies Tuesday as part of a contract vehicle worth billions in counter-drone technology, a potentially massive haul for the Pentagon’s Domestic Shield initiative and air defense efforts.

The 10 new awards have a collective ceiling of $4.15 billion and fall under an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) vehicle that officials expect to reach $7 billion by the end of next month. So far, however, less than one percent — $50 million — of the new awards have been obligated, they said, with the rest depending on congressional funding in the new fiscal year.

Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) and the Army shepherded the vehicle as part of an effort to identify distinct defense requirements for units and critical assets increasingly vulnerable to drones, hoping to flood money into a market that military and industry officials have said is moving too slowly to meet demand.

The defense officials said the multi-billion dollar vehicle established a “foundation” for additional contracts with a variety of companies, boosting parallel counter-drone efforts so industry can forecast the military’s needs and units can procure rapidly evolving technology quickly, without having to rely on just a handful of vendors.

“These vehicles we awarded yesterday span a range of counter-UAS capabilities, from sensors to effectors to [command and control] systems. [They] really give us options as newer requirements emerge,” Brent Ingraham, the Army’s acquisition, technology and logistics lead, told reporters Tuesday. “We want to bring better technology forward every day, and we don’t want to be locked into a single vendor as that threat evolves.” 

Between the Iran war and concerns over domestic air incursions, the military has been rushing to deploy piecemealed batches of counter-unmanned aerial systems for units and bases in need of technology that can zap down cheap, mass-produced drones that are simultaneously draining the military’s stockpile of expensive interceptors abroad. 

“What we’re trying to do through the marketplace is to connect those producers with customers so they can see that true demand across the United States, then also with our partners and allies,” Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF-401, said, noting that demand for counter-drone technology has outpaced available supply. “A large IDIQ contract will allow companies to raise additional capital to build up their inventory because they have a reasonable expectation that we’re going to continue to partner with them.”

The awards support the Defense Department’s drone and counter-drone marketplaces, which officials have described as commercial-like hubs where local, state, federal and certain allied customers can purchase technology. They’re also aimed at the Pentagon’s Domestic Shield effort, which is meant to help safeguard critical assets against drone threats. 

The companies listed in the award announcement specialize in various parts of what defense officials call a “layered defense,” an ecosystem of sensors, weapons, jammers and other tools meant to detect and defeat a variety of drones at different distances, altitudes and sizes. 

Those IDIQ awards will go to the following companies, adding up to roughly $4.15 billion:

• Allen Control Systems, $500 million.
• Digital Force Technologies, $500 million.
• DroneShield, $500 million.
• Echodyne Corp, $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.

Officials did not say which specific products the military was looking at or when they would be delivered, though Ingraham touted the marketplace as being able to turn orders into deliveries in less than a month.

Through a spokesperson, the acquisition director for JIATF-401, Col. Tony Lindh, told DefenseScoop that the task force has awarded over $5 billion so far, which includes previous contracts with AeroVironment and CACI worth roughly $500 million each, “others” and the ten new IDIQ vehicles announced Tuesday. 

That leaves roughly $2 billion in ceiling for the task force’s goal. 

“JIATF-401 is on track to award up to $7 billion for counter drone technology,” Lindh told DefenseScoop. “JIATF-401 expects to sign additional IDIQs to get to the full $7B ceiling before the end of next month.”

But fully funding these awards depends on a Congress embroiled in political gridlock over defense spending, particularly the Iran war. Lawmakers failed to pass a budget for fiscal 2027, which begins on Oct. 1, opting to extend the previous year’s appropriation levels until mid-December via continuing resolution (CR), leaving countless defense initiatives uncertain.

“As of today, $50 million has been obligated for the 10 new IDIQ vehicles,” Lindh said. “The contracts will also be leveraged for additional procurements by JIATF-401 and the services, combatant commands and other interagency organizations or allies and partners, contingent on CR and budget in Congress.”