"These vehicles we awarded yesterday span a range of counter-UAS capabilities — from sensors to effectors to C2 [command and control] systems," Brent Ingraham, the Army’s Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, told reporters. The comments came as the Army and Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) announced multiple contract awards under a new indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity vehicle worth up to $7 billion.
The IDIQ awards and the companies named
The Army on Monday began awarding multiple contracts under an IDIQ that officials said could total as much as $7 billion to support counter-drone capabilities. The service publicly listed ten contract bases and one award amount:
- $500 million base for Allen Control Systems
- $500 million base for Digital Force Technologies
- $500 million base for DroneShield
- $250 million base for Echodyne Corp
- $500 million base for Napatree Technology
- $250 million base for PVP Advanced EO Systems
- $500 million base for RADA Technologies, LLC
- $150 million for SmartShooter Inc
- $500 million base for SRC
- $500 million base for L3Harris WESCAM
The Army did not detail what kind of capabilities each company will provide, and officials declined to answer questions about when the systems are expected to be delivered or to whom the systems will be delivered.
Brig. Gen. Matt Ross and the push for layered defenses
Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, commanding general of JIATF-401, framed the awards as building blocks for a “layered defense” that can “detect[], track[], identify[], mitigate[] and capture[] drones.” Ross emphasized interoperability and multiple interoperable systems over a single “system of systems.”
“There’s no silver bullet,” Ross said. “I think at times in the past, people thought that we could just down-select to a really good counter-UAS capability and give one to everybody. What we’ve seen is that there is no single solution.”
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End the scrambleAcquisition channels: marketplaces, CSOs, license agreements
Officials said the Army will use multiple acquisition channels to put the awarded capabilities into use. Brent Ingraham and Brig. Gen. Ross named several mechanisms: commercial solutions openings, a Common Command and Control Enterprise License Agreement, existing service contracts and the Pentagon’s drone and counter-drone marketplaces.
Through the marketplace, soldiers, other federal agencies and allied nations can purchase various counter-drone capabilities, Ingraham said. He projected the counter-drone marketplace could mirror the success of the Army’s drone marketplace, which “to date has made over $800 million in sales.” Ross added the marketplace will help scale the number of drones available for purchase as demand “exceeds available supply right now.”
Domestic Shield, JIATF-401 and the marketplace’s strategic role
The awards are explicitly intended to support the Pentagon’s broader drone and counter-drone marketplace and the Domestic Shield program, described in announcements as a project aimed at protecting U.S. military installations and critical infrastructure from threats posed by small drones. Ingraham said the contracting foundation is intended to preserve competition so “we don’t want to be locked into a single vendor as that threat evolves.”
Ross said a large IDIQ 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,” reinforcing the link officials drew between contracting scale and industrial production capacity.
NNSA and JIATF-401 sign MOU to share test data
Separately on the same day, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and JIATF-401 signed a memorandum of understanding to improve information sharing on drone threats. According to a NNSA announcement, the MOU will share data from the NNSA’s counter-drone test events with the task force, and JIATF-401 will reciprocate.
The NNSA statement said the agreement will “reduce duplicative testing, accelerate the fielding of effective C-UAS capabilities, and strengthen protection of critical national security facilities.” It added that “Increased collaboration will help participating organizations make better use of taxpayer funding while accelerating the evaluation and fielding of advanced C-UAS technologies.”
What this means for soldiers, federal buyers, and awarded companies
- Soldiers and federal buyers: Officials expect the marketplace and IDIQ to expand available options and inventory, enabling purchases across units and agencies as demand grows, though delivery timelines were not provided.
- Awarded companies: The IDIQ bases offer a predictable contracting foundation and the possibility of capital expansion, with officials saying large contracts can help companies “build up their inventory.”
- NNSA and JIATF-401: The MOU commits both organizations to share test-event data to reduce duplication and speed fielding of counter-UAS tools for protection of critical facilities.
The Army and JIATF-401 have established a broad contracting framework and an information-sharing pact designed to speed deployment and scale supply. But the record released with the awards leaves core operational questions unanswered: when systems will arrive, which units or agencies will receive them, and how individual awardees’ capabilities will map onto the layered defense the service describes. Those are the details officials declined to provide at the announcement.
