The Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle consists of a commercial Ford F600 model truck tricked out with Kodiak’s autonomous driving software and Eprius’ high-power microwave (HPM) c-UAS platform.
“It’s something that really wouldn't be possible 12 months ago,” Picogrid cofounder Martin Slosarik told Breaking Defense.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
“It's giving me a holistic coverage over the Cape, as opposed to pockets of coverage that I have today,” Space Launch Delta 45 Commander Col. Brian Chatman told Breaking Defense.
The Army is looking for interceptor component parts with the “primary objective” of providing a database that may be "leveraged in support of a future C-sUAS Interceptor program," a recent RFI states.
"We’re locked in step with the Army, we’re fired up about the future, and I think what you’re going to see at AUSA really supports where the Army is headed," Geoff Norman, director of US strategy and growth at GDLS, told Breaking Defense.
Maneuverable and deadly drone swarms are driving demand for platform-agnostic solutions for cannons and missiles.
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
"You don't need a bespoke F-35 at eleventy billion dollars an hour, right? You can do this in a very cost-effective way,” Ray Fitzgerald, senior vice president for strategy at SNC, told Breaking Defense.
The Army Innovation Program is "shifting to this more deliberate, spiralized approach, where we can have rapid tech upgrades and tech refreshes throughout the life cycle,” the program's director said.
Stacie Pettyjohn, a co-author of the new Center for New American Security study, told Breaking Defense the US should focus on three c-UAS tactics.
Iron Beam 450 derives its name from the 450mm aperture of the system.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
The two firms are focused on the lower tier aspect of Golden Dome, such as small drones and cruise missiles.
The move comes amid a global drone and counter-drone spending spree, including in the US where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently signed a memo that in part directed every US Army squad to be armed with small, one-way attack drones by the end of fiscal 2026.
Battlefield inventions in Ukraine are already outpacing a joint US-UK counter-UAS effort that is just months old.
Shield’s “Hivemind” autonomy software will go on an undisclosed “operational weapon,” while Shield’s ViDAR sensor software will go on Raytheon’s MTS multi-sensor turret to help in tracking and targeting incoming enemy drones.