Leonardo DRS wins $500M slot to supply counter-drone radar

Leonardo DRS has won a spot on a Pentagon counter-drone contract worth up to $500 million, giving the company a path to sell its tactical radars to Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the U.S. Department of War organization set up last year to speed anti-drone gear to troops.

The company announced the three-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award on Oct. 14 in a press release, saying it will be eligible to compete for task orders covering integrated counter-drone sensing for force protection and low-altitude air defense. The $500 million figure is a ceiling for orders rather than money committed, and Leonardo DRS did not report any initial task order or say how much has been obligated.

“Our counter UAS and air defense radars have demonstrated proven detection, tracking, and force protection performance in operational environments,” said Max Cohen, senior vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS RADA Technologies business unit.

That business traces back to Israeli radar maker RADA, which merged with DRS in 2022 and builds compact tactical radars designed to spot small drones, rockets and mortar rounds. Its Multi-mission Hemispheric Radar flies on the U.S. Army’s Stryker-based Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense vehicle, for which Leonardo DRS also integrates the mission equipment package. According to the company, the same family of sensors supports counter-rocket, artillery and mortar missions as well as short-range air defense for deployed forces.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered JIATF-401 created in August 2025 to replace the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office. The task force reports to the deputy secretary of war, is run under the U.S. Army, and has a director who can approve up to $50 million per counter-drone effort without going through the usual acquisition chain.

Leonardo DRS is one of several companies to receive a JIATF-401 contract with an identical $500 million ceiling this year. The first went to Perennial Autonomy in May, covering Merops interceptors and Bumblebee quadcopters among other drone-killing systems. Since then, CACI, AeroVironment, Digital Force Technologies, DroneShield and SRC have announced similar vehicles, most of them tied to Domestic Shield, the task force’s push to protect military bases and other sites inside the United States.

Radar maker SRC is the closest comparison, having received a $10.24 million first order for its Gryphon radars alongside its own $500 million vehicle earlier this month. Leonardo DRS framed its award around expeditionary and deployed forces, and its release does not mention Domestic Shield.

“This JIATF IDIQ positions DRS to accelerate the delivery of integrated C-UAS sensing technologies through rapid fielding of operationally relevant capabilities that help protect forces and strengthen low-altitude air defense as new threats emerge,” said John Baylouny, president and chief executive officer of Leonardo DRS.