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Topic

Counter-Drone Systems

Technologies and weapons used to detect and destroy small uncrewed aerial threats, including gun-based interceptors, lasers, and missile systems.

Current stories

productOne report1 publisher

Skapion sets a 97% intercept target for 100-plus drones before any live-fire test

Skapion unveiled a counter-swarm interceptor system on October 14 that it says can engage more than 100 targets at once at over 97% success. Both figures are company-reported targets, and the first live-fire test is planned for the coming weeks.

Reality

Evidence20
Adoption3
Hype gap+35
Incentives70
Confidence55
productOne report1 publisher

Leonardo DRS puts its four-panel cxMHR air defense radar into initial production

Leonardo DRS has begun initial production of its cxMHR radar, which it rates at 56 miles against drones and 205 against transport aircraft. The company has not published equivalent ranges for every threat it lists.

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption8
Hype gap+35
Incentives70
Confidence55
productOne report1 publisher

Raytheon's rocket-powered Coyote reaches three development tests 15 months after concept

Raytheon says it took its Coyote Block 2C+RM counter-drone interceptor from concept to three development tests in 15 months. It has not disclosed range figures, and no purchase of this variant has been established.

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption8
Hype gap+30
Incentives60
Confidence50
productOne report1 publisher

BAE Systems unveils a Technology Readiness Level 6 high-power microwave weapon to counter drone swarms

BAE Systems unveiled a high-power microwave weapon at AUSA 2026 that it says has reached Technology Readiness Level 6. Only the microwave half of the pairing works without conventional ammunition, and no Army adoption is shown.

Reality

Evidence35
Adoption5
Hype gap+25
Incentives70
Confidence50
productOne report1 publisher

Forterra and Hypercraft's armed driverless supply vehicle is still a trade-show pitch

Forterra and Hypercraft showed a driverless vehicle with a 4,000-pound payload and an anti-drone shotgun at AUSA, but announced no customer, contract or price. Until someone signs, the evidence a buyer can use belongs to parts already tested or contracted on military trucks.

Reality

Evidence35
Adoption15
Hype gap+40
Incentives75
Confidence40
leadershipOne report1 publisher

Cartel drone detections at the US border climb as the military adds sensors

US military officials logged 378 cartel drone detections at the southern border in the past month, a rise they partly credit to having more sensors in place. That leaves the monthly count a weak measure of whether cartels are actually flying more drones.

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption45
Hype gap+10
Incentives55
Confidence45
investConfirmed3 publishers

Merz brings defense and energy executives to Kyiv alongside about 1bn euros in military aid

Friedrich Merz took 10 defense and energy executives to Kyiv as Berlin prepared to unveil about 1bn euros in military aid and 350m euros for energy repair. How much of that money turns into orders for German or other European suppliers depends on terms that have not yet been published.

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers
Builder
Builder 17%
Operator
Operator 56%
Investor
Investor 27%

Reality

Evidence72
Adoption40
Hype gap+20
Incentives65
Confidence65
productOne report1 publisher

Task Force 401 puts DFT's threat-classifying edge software on a $500 million counter-drone contract

Digital Force Technologies won a $500 million IDIQ from Joint Interagency Task Force 401 for counter-drone systems run by its SeraphimOS edge software. By DFT's account the software classifies threats on its own, so base-defense teams end up trusting its judgement over any one sensor's.

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption20
Hype gap+35
Incentives65
Confidence45
leadershipOne report1 publisher

US counter-drone task force backs a mix of systems with contracts capped near $7 billion

JIATF-401, the US counter-drone task force, announced enterprise contracts with a combined ceiling of nearly $7 billion for a mix of technologies. The choice of which system to field now falls to the units and agencies that will order through them.

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption25
Hype gap+25
Incentives55
Confidence50
productOne report1 publisher

The Marine Corps picked a counter-drone turret that fires a machine gun it already owns

Bullfrog uses computer vision to hold the aim while a gun already in service does the firing. ACS is opening an Austin plant to build more of them for the Army, the Navy and now the Marine Corps.

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption50
Hype gap+25
Incentives80
Confidence40
investOne report1 publisher

Ground A raises 9.1M euros to put a high-energy laser on a Euro pallet

The round is led by Vsquared, but the interesting cheque is Florian Seibel's personal one, sitting beside a corporate stake from Quantum Systems in a laser the reporting says may one day compete with its own products.

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption6
Hype gap+30
Incentives80
Confidence45
productOne report1 publisher

The Army bought a production laser after testing an earlier version of the system on drones in Texas

AeroVironment's $464.8m Enduring-HEL award covers dozens of 30-kilowatt LOCUST X3 units. The step that made the purchase possible was a Department of War safety agreement with the FAA, signed before anyone fired.

Publishers:thenextweb.com

Reality

Evidence48
Adoption58
Hype gap+18
Incentives74
Confidence55
productOne report1 publisher

The Army's first AMP-HEL lasers arrive mounted on GM Defense squad vehicles

AeroVironment's two 20kW-class LOCUST prototypes cleared government acceptance testing at Yuma and went through new equipment training at Fort Sill, which finally gives counter-drone planners a delivered mobile system to price against interceptors.

Reality

Evidence38
Adoption31
Hype gap+37
Incentives81
Confidence48
productOne report1 publisher

L3Harris mounted its passive drone sensor on ARX's robot to move the antenna away from soldiers

At Project Convergence-Capstone 6 the two firms swapped a payload rather than build a vehicle, which was the cheap part. The cost of keeping a forward robot running and getting it back is still unpublished.

Reality

Evidence30
Adoption14
Hype gap+18
Incentives76
Confidence42
productOne report1 publisher

A $22.3m counter-drone contract that buys warning time, not shootdowns

Powerus has been commissioned to wire sensors around Middle East oil and gas fields. The deal detects and classifies; it does not intercept, and nobody has said how many sites it covers.

Reality

Evidence26
Adoption17
Hype gap+18
Incentives78
Confidence33
investOne report1 publisher

A US brigade took counter-drone gear to Combined Resolve and was wiped out anyway

The 3rd Armored Brigade's 3,500 soldiers had electronic warfare and counter-UAS equipment at the exercise in Germany. A Ukrainian drone regiment destroyed them, which prices the fix per vehicle.

Publishers:en.sedaily.com

Reality

Evidence34
Adoption58
Hype gap+31
Incentives62
Confidence38
investOne report1 publisher

Counter-drone graduates from demo to production line: ACS says 10 a week is going to thousands a month

A $200 million round, two planned plants and revenue going from about $10 million to "low nine figures" put anti-drone hardware in the manufacturing bucket, not the science bucket.

Publishers:fortune.com

Reality

Evidence27
Adoption34
Hype gap+42
Incentives74
Confidence41