The U.S. Army has awarded Marina del Rey-based Heaviside Industries an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $99 million to procure, field, upgrade and sustain the company's MOTH ruggedized tactical spectrum analyzer, a handheld sensor designed to spot drones and enemy radio traffic on the battlefield.
What The Army Is Buying
MOTH is a pocket-sized radio detector for soldiers. It picks up signals across a wide 5 MHz to 6 GHz range, more than enough to catch most drone control links, walkie-talkies and other communications gear. The unit weighs less than a pound with the battery installed, roughly the size of a large smartphone, and can be worn on a vest or slipped into a pack. Built-in direction finding, GPS, a small screen and haptic alerts guide the user to the source of any signal it picks up. Heaviside says the device is rated to operate from 14 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit and to survive rain, dust and rough handling.
At a list price of roughly $4,950 per unit through retailer Lumenier, MOTH is cheap by military-hardware standards. That matters because it lets the Army push detection capability out to every squad rather than reserving it for specialists. The service opened bidding online and drew 99 competing responses before selecting Heaviside, according to the Department of War announcement.
Fielded Through 2031
The contract runs through August 27, 2031, with work locations and funding assigned by individual task orders. Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland is the contracting activity. MOTH is aimed primarily at electronic-warfare specialists, but Heaviside says the interface is simple enough that any soldier can use it to spot a nearby drone or radio emitter without additional training.
Fresh Capital, New Contracts
The award lands on the heels of an aggressive fundraising sprint. Heaviside emerged from more than two years of stealth in May 2026 with a $28 million Series A led by Interlagos, then followed with a $60 million Series B led by Felicis in August that valued the company near $600 million and paired it with a manufacturing partnership with Norwegian munitions giant Nammo. The company employs more than 50 engineers and operators across Los Angeles and Oslo, with a founding team drawn from proven military UAS and guidance programs.
Counter-Drone Spending Keeps Climbing
MOTH joins a growing federal push to blunt cheap drone threats. In July the Pentagon awarded AeroVironment a $500 million counter-drone contract, and the White House's Drone Dominance Program is mobilizing more than $1.1 billion to procure over 200,000 lethal small UAS by 2027. Cheap handheld sensors like MOTH are a companion piece: putting spectrum awareness on every warfighter changes what a squad can see before an enemy drone gets close.
Reporting based on coverage from The Defence Blog and Department of War contract announcements.