On July 3, the U.S. Coast Guard published a request for information (RFI) seeking information on the current capabilities of C-UAS, the availability of C-UAS as a service, and the availability of C-UAS equipment operated by the government but owned and maintained by the vendor.
According to the RFI, the service’s defense concept includes rapidly deployable and adaptable C-UAS solutions for fixed, temporary, on-the-move and portable deployments to secure critical infrastructure and high-profile events. Upon deployment, the Coast Guard directs, C-UAS must have the capability to detect, identify, monitor, track, warn, disrupt and seize threat UAVs.
A month later, in August, the Guard’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Program Executive Office (RAS PEO) followed up with the announcement that it would host a virtual industry day to engage with producers about the service’s needs for future implementation of C-UAS.
Meanwhile, in Warsaw, the Polish Ministry of Defense’s Armament Agency, on July 10 signed an agreement to purchase Israel Aerospace Industries’ EL/M-2238X STAR-X naval radar to help Poland tighten its coastal surveillance capabilities, filling gaps in detection. The nation will receive 18 radars under the $118.5 million contract over a five year period. According to IAI, the EL/M-2238X is capable of detecting both surface and low-flying aerial targets, including drones.
Five days later, on July 15, Smartshooter announced a new order from the U.S. Marine Corp for its SMASH 2000L fire control systems as an interim solution to address its urgent need for C-UAS solutions. According to the company, SMASH 2000L is its most lightweight handheld fire-control unit, combining AI-enabled vision with advanced tracking which allows soldiers to physically destroy drones rather than electronically jam them.
In the larger, U.S. defense world, July 21, saw the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), in collaboration with U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command representatives, announcing the selection of ten finalists to advance in the C-sUAS Low-Cost Sensing (LCS) challenge. The companies would then move forward to demonstrate their sensor technologies during USNORTHCOM’s Falcon Peak exercise in September.
The announcement went on to state that the solutions selected represented a diverse range of sensor modalities, including radio frequency passive detection, active radar, acoustic, optical cameras, infrared cameras, and several mixed modality technologies.
The ten finalists selected included: BLUEiQ, CHAOS 1, Fortem Technologies, Guardian RF, Hidden Level, MatrixSpace, REVOBEAM, Squarehead Technology, Teledyne FLIR Defense, and Thalrix.
Major C-UAS developer Epirus, on July 17, announced a $43.5 million contract from the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) which includes delivery of two Integrated Fires Protection Capability High-Power Microwave (IFPC-HPM) Generation II (GEN II) systems, along with associated test events, support equipment and spares.
The IFPC-HPM GEN II systems, according to Epirus, build upon the four IFPC-HPM systems Epirus delivered to U.S. Army in May 2024 and leverage the company’s solid-state, HPM Leonidas technology platform, developed internally for counter-electronics and critical asset protection using weaponized electromagnetic interference.
In international collaboration news, July 31 saw the announcement of the United States and British armies’ fourth iteration of the Project Flytrap exercise at Hohenfels Training Area in Germany and the Bemowo Piskie Training Area in Poland. The project is a multinational program focused on developing, testing, and integrating C-UAS solutions.
On August 12, Leonardo DRS announced that it had successfully completed its first series of open-water demonstrations of its advanced maritime Mission Equipment Package (MEP) for C-UAS naval fleet protection. This system is designed to be mounted on a range of small uncrewed surface vessels providing remote ship protection at varying distances.
Leonardo DRS revealed that the initial demonstrations were conducted under realistic sea conditions and demonstrated the MEP’s core integrated systems performance – the detection, identification and tracking of a UAS threat and counter-surface ship tracking.
The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency, on August 15, announced the signing of a multi-year contract with British company, Operational Solutions Ltd. (OSL), for the purchase of new anti-drone systems. The systems being acquired are planned for use at Royal Norwegian Air Force’s Ørland Air Station.
Rounding out the relatively quiet C-UAS news month, In August 21, DroneShield announced the expansion of its support for Ukrainian customers, providing C-UAS solutions via a newly established, undisclosed local partnership.
Andrew Dardine is lead analyst for Forecast International's Defense Electronic Systems group. He is the primary author of Forecast International's Electronic Warfare Forecast and co-author of Electro-Optical Systems Forecast and C4I Forecast. Andrew is also a regular contributor to FI's Defense & Security Monitor blog, offering insights into developing technologies such as directed-energy and next-generation jamming systems. His analysis of such vital market areas as EO/IR systems and electronic countermeasures technology has been cited in Defense News, Aerospace Daily, and Bloomberg Businessweek, among other news media. He has also written about the electronic defense market for Aviation Week and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
