U.S. Air Force buys gear for DroneShield counter-drone kits in Texas

The U.S. Air Force wants to buy equipment for DroneShield’s Immediate Response Kits, a portable counter-drone system, at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. The 502nd Contracting Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland posted a brand-name-only request for quotes on Nov. 10, and offers are due Nov. 17.

The notice covers “the associated equipment needed to operate the brand name DroneShield Immediate Response Kits (IRK).” It doesn’t list the items, quantities or which units will use them; those details sit in an attached cover page. The wording suggests the kits are already at the base or on order, but the public notice doesn’t say so.

The purchase is set aside for small businesses, which means resellers rather than DroneShield itself are expected to bid. The Air Force will place a single firm-fixed-price purchase order with the “lowest price technically acceptable” quote, using simplified procedures for commercial products.

DroneShield, an Australian company with a U.S. subsidiary, sells the Immediate Response Kit as a packaged pairing of two hand-carried systems. The RfPatrol Mk2 is a body-worn passive detector that listens for drone radio signals without transmitting. The DroneGun Mk4 is a rifle-style jammer that disrupts the links between a drone and its operator.

Both fit in one rugged case. DroneShield lists the DroneGun Mk4 at 3.37 kg (7.43 pounds) with its battery and the RfPatrol Mk2 at 800 grams (1.76 pounds), with the full kit shipping at about 12 kg (27 pounds). The company says the jammer starts in under three seconds and runs for more than an hour of active disruption, while the detector runs up to eight hours. It does not publish a range for the kit.

Hand-held jammers like the DroneGun are a last-ditch layer for base security forces, not a replacement for radar-based systems. They work only against drones that rely on radio links the jammer can reach, and the operator has to see or detect the drone close enough to aim at it.

The Air Force has been spending heavily on larger counter-drone systems for its bases. Its fiscal 2026 budget included $836 million for Air Base Air Defense Systems, up from $164 million a year earlier, according to DroneShield, which cited the service’s budget documents.

Concern over drones near U.S. installations grew after unidentified drones flew over Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, for 17 days in December 2023. The Pentagon has not publicly identified who operated them.

DroneShield has picked up other U.S. military work this year. In June, the company announced a contract worth up to $24.9 million from Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the Pentagon office that coordinates counter-drone efforts across the U.S. military, for mobile and fixed systems to be delivered in 2026 and 2027. The Defence Blog has also reported on DroneShield’s partnership with Defenture on vehicle-mounted drone defense.

DroneShield’s own site notes that its jamming products are not authorized for sale or use in the United States except by the federal government and authorized agencies where the law allows.