Drone-solutions developer Draganfly (NASDAQ: DPRO) said it has been selected, alongside partner F4 Defense International (F4DI), by the U.S. Army's DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory for an initial development contract to build a modular, multi-layered counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS). The award, announced May 20, 2026, tasks the team with creating a platform designed to detect, identify, track, target, and defeat hostile drones in contested environments.
A tethered, rapidly deployable approach
At the center of the program is an ultra-mobile, rapidly deployable counter-drone solution that pairs Draganfly's tethered aerial platform technology with identification, targeting, and defeat system architectures. The company says the system is intended to deliver persistent aerial overwatch, enhanced situational awareness, and coordinated airborne and ground-based drone mitigation for both expeditionary and fixed-site operations.
What the platform is expected to combine
According to Draganfly, the planned platform brings together persistent tethered airborne surveillance and targeting, AI-enabled drone identification and tracking, real-time battlefield and base-defense situational awareness, and integrated electronic and kinetic defeat coordination, all wrapped in a rapid-deployment architecture. The initial contract phase is expected to focus on systems integration, operational capability development, and field evaluation activities.
Riding a surge in counter-drone demand
"The modern battlefield has fundamentally changed," said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. "Low-cost drones have become one of the most disruptive asymmetric threats facing military forces, governments, and critical infrastructure operators globally." Dave Fairfax, COO of F4DI, an SBA HUBZone-certified small business and systems integrator, said the collaboration aims to deliver "an operationally relevant and scalable solution designed around the realities of modern drone warfare." Draganfly cited industry research projecting the global counter-UAS market to exceed US$20 billion by 2030, making it one of the fastest-growing segments in defense.
Part of a broader counter-drone push
The award lands amid intensifying investment in systems built to neutralize cheap, fast-proliferating aerial threats. It follows the Pentagon's move to award Perennial Autonomy a $500 million counter-drone deal, and arrives alongside wider defense-robotics momentum such as L3Harris' delivery of T4 and T7 tactical robots to the Australian Defense Force and the spread of armed quadruped military robots carrying mounted weapons. For Draganfly, the contract extends a defense-focused trajectory that has recently included new optical payloads and fixed-wing ISR assets.
Reporting based on coverage from GlobeNewswire and StockTitan.