Posted on 06/23/2026 10:00:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is challenging defense companies to develop a new generation of low-cost air-defense interceptors within a year, a move that could reshape one of the military's most expensive and strategically important weapons markets, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
The initiative, which will be presented to roughly 100 companies ranging from defense startups to established contractors, reflects growing concern that the Pentagon's traditional approach to weapons acquisition has produced systems that are highly capable but difficult to manufacture quickly and affordably at scale.
For investors, the effort could create opportunities for defense technology companies focused on mass production, automation and lower-cost weapons. The Army's accelerated timeline and willingness to depart from conventional procurement practices may favor emerging firms such as Anduril and other nontraditional contractors, while also pressuring established defense companies to rethink business models built around smaller volumes of increasingly expensive systems.
Driscoll said the Army wants companies to demonstrate potential solutions within six months and begin procurement within a year, an unusually aggressive timetable for military acquisitions, Bloomberg News reported.
The effort comes as recent conflicts have highlighted the economic challenges of modern air defense. In both Ukraine and the recent conflict involving Iran, defenders have relied heavily on costly interceptor missiles to destroy incoming threats that are often significantly cheaper to produce.
The issue has become particularly acute for Patriot missile systems, whose interceptors can cost millions of dollars apiece. U.S. and allied stockpiles have come under pressure as demand has surged, exposing limitations in production capacity and replenishment timelines.
Rather than issuing a highly detailed set of technical specifications, the Army plans to describe the operational problem and allow companies to propose their own approaches. Officials also hope to encourage partnerships that combine technologies from multiple vendors.
(Excerpt) Read more at seekingalpha.com ...
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Remember, part of the cozy, woke-political, DC permanent “swamp” are crony government contractors who have so wormed their way into Federal Government, that screwdrivers cost $1000 and new airplanes cost $200 million, and no one bats an eye.
The classic military adage is “Quantity has a quality all its own.”
I thought that was what the LASER weapons were for............
Defense “manufacturers” are actually in the business of selling us paperwork that documents performance to spec, but does not guarantee effectiveness in the field.
We all remember the missile that went down the chimney of the target. That's a proven!!
A few months ago I listened to a podcast with the founder of Anduril Industries. They were focused on low cost systems for defense. This included drone tech and interceptor stuff.
The interesting part of the conversation was how these guys are building these systems using tooling that is available in large plants that already exist. He used the transformation of Ford and GM plants to defense manufacturers in WWII.
He pointed out that systems used today are so technically sophisticated they cannot be manufactured in mass amounts. Taking a year to replenish supply is not going to be an option if we engage in any kind of significant wars. He was saying he could walk into just about any large factory and convert them to making his systems in something like 45 days.
We need to be more agile and simple in how we develop systems for the modern war zones.
Nay one question, if bankrupt Ukraine, China and Russia can cheaply mass manufacture offensive and defensive drones so cheaply, why can’t the US?
Uh oh. Raytheon and the generals and admirals in procurement are not going to be happy.
“U.S. Army seeks low-cost missile interceptors in bid to rewrite procurement”
What’s cheaper than a missile is a shell.
“At the heart of this revolution is the M982 Excalibur GPS shell...Utilizing GPS and mid-flight fin corrections, these shells strike within meters of a target from forty kilometers away.”
https://www.military-stuff.org/the-single-shot-kill-inside-the-smart-artillery-revolution/
Instead of GPS, which is for long distances, any mid-course correction needed could be transmitted optically.
Anti-drone drones are the new future.
EchoShield is a medium-range, software-defined, pulse-Doppler, cognitive 4D metamaterials ESA (MESA) radar.
With the equivalent of more than 500 Tx/Rx modules, EchoShield intelligently searches a large, customizable field of view and tracks ~1,000 objects of interest with industry-leading angular accuracy.
RADAR SPECS
Frequency: Ku-band 15.4 – 16.6 GHz
Field of View: 130° Azimuth x 90° Elevation
Track Accuracy: <0.5° Azimuth x < 0.5° Elevation
Track Update Rate: 10Hz
Size: 42.5 cm x 33cm x 18cm
Weight: 17.8 kg
TRACKING RANGE (not maximum)
Phantom 4 drone: 3.7 km
Matrice 600 drone: 6.6 km
Human: 9.4 km
https://www.radartutorial.eu/19.kartei//05.perimeter/pubs/brochure-def-echodyne_25ja1.pdf
“Anti-drone drones are the new future.”
My Florida county switched over to a new trash system that uses huge plastic trash cans.
Crows can no longer find feasts on trash days and they have become desperate.
To prevent the crows from eating eggs, mockingbirds chase the crows furiously. The flight maneuvers are amazing to watch.
EchoShield is NOT an anti-missile missile. The radar is needed for detection and guidance, but it’s not the interceptor that Washington seeks.
The fact is the Pentagon has known about the drone problem since the Armenian-Azerbaijani War.
I would think they would have drone defense down part.
The F700 is effective at stopping drones of almost any size, including the large Group-2 drones frequently used by rogue militants and terrorist groups. This is made possible by NetGuns™, modular attachments that fire rapidly expanding nets to ensnare targets.
Three types of NetGun™ are available. Small, store-bought drones — otherwise known as Group-1 drones — are best handled by the small or medium tether net. These NetGun™ variants trap the offending drone in a net connected to the F700 by a tether, which is then used to carry the drone to a safe location. The other option, called the DrogueChute™, is used to tackle larger, heavier drones. It fires a large net connected to a drogue, or parachute. This forces the target into a slow and predictable landing, allowing ample time to evacuate the zone below.
Both quad-copters and fast, fixed-wing drones are equally susceptible to NetGun™ projectiles. Once the F700 is within range of the target, escape is highly improbable. Statistically, only 15% of target drones evade the first shot… and a second shot is usually ready to follow.
Jamming is good for stopping a 12-year-old from taking a picture of fireworks or a careless operator in a parking lot outside a stadium. Most terrorist or near-peer drones intent on doing damage or real criminal activity use off-the-shelf commercial drones that are not susceptible to jamming. They use drones configured to fly on GPS waypoints. They are only listening to GPS and not emitting any RF signal. They are not detected by RF listening antennas because they are not emitting any RF signal. Jamming or hacking with a library of commands is a no-op as there is no RF signal to hack or jam.
its deep integration with the TrueView® R20, a cutting-edge radar developed alongside it, makes the F700 the smartest and most spatially-aware interceptor anywhere near its price.
Multiple DroneHunters can be coordinated by SkyDome Manager C2 (integrated with existing C2 systems) when there are multiple threats present.
https://fortemtech.com/products/dronehunter-f700/
Like all TrueView® radars, the R20 is built with a focus on scalability. By networking with other units, it can achieve complete 360° coverage of any zone, including urban areas with tall buildings. This ability is also used in the air, where data received from ground-based radars can assist a UAV with targeting and navigation. The airborne variant, R20i, is standard equipment on DroneHunter® UAVs.
Detect and track the small, low-flying, slow-moving (less than 0.1 m/s) drones that other radars struggle to follow
https://fortemtech.com/products/trueview-r20/
We need mass production of mockingbirds with Mach 4 or 5 speeds.
Palmer Luckey is one smart dude. He’s techie without being techie. He breaks everything down to simple.
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