US Army awards $4.15 billion in counter-drone contracts to 10 companies

The US Army has awarded contracts worth $4.15 billion to 10 companies developing technology to counter low-cost drones threatening military installations and critical infrastructure across the United States. The awards are part of Domestic Shield, a Department of Defense initiative with a multi-vendor framework and a maximum value of $7 billion.

Seven companies—Allen Control Systems, Digital Force Technologies, DroneShield, L3Harris WESCAM, Napatree Technology, RADA Technologies and SRC—received contracts with base values of $500 million each. Echodyne and PVP Advanced EO Systems received awards worth $250 million apiece, while Smart Shooter received a $150 million contract.

The framework lets military services, federal agencies and allied partners obtain commercially available counter-drone equipment through a common procurement process. The Army is working with Joint Interagency Task Force 401 to administer the initiative. Officials expect further awards below the contract threshold before the end of October 2026.

The systems include robotic weapon stations, optical rifle sights, compact radars, long-range tracking cameras and command-and-control software. The Army is requiring open architecture standards so equipment from different suppliers can connect to existing defense networks. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Brent Ingraham said the standards are intended to break proprietary vendor lock-in and allow new technologies to integrate with those networks.

The source links the initiative’s urgency to Iranian drone attacks during the 2026 US–Iran war, which damaged American military facilities and equipment across the Middle East. It reports that the contracts are intended to support detection, tracking and responses to aerial threats.