Leonardo DRS has been awarded a contract to provide additional Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Uncrewed Aircraft System Integrated Defeat Systems (M-LIDS) for the US Army.
The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has been awarded as part of the US Army Integrated Fires/Rapid Capabilities Office’s (IFRCO) M-LIDS programme, which is currently underway.
The task order under the IDIQ contract will also see Leonardo DRS providing additional kinetic defeat vehicles and spares for the M-LIDS system.
Leonardo DRS Land Systems senior vice-president and general manager Aaron Hankins said: “Leonardo DRS is proud to be a member of the M-LIDS team, and we appreciate the opportunity to deliver additional vehicles. Drones have become a dangerous threat to our war fighters.
“Delivering M-LIDS vehicles remains one of our highest priorities, and we are excited about this new task order.”
Leonardo DRS’ M-LIDS counter drone system has been designed to enhance the capabilities of soldiers in detecting, identifying, tracking, and defeating small uncrewed aircraft, leveraging its electronic warfare and kinetic defeat systems.
This M-LIDS system features a combination of kinetic defeat effectors, including a XM914 (30mm) cannon, hosted by the Moog-built Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP) turret.
The initial contract to deliver M-LIDS counter drone systems was awarded to Leonardo in 2017. It was followed by other subsequent task orders for the production of additional C-UAS systems.
In March last year, the US Army also identified M-LIDS Increment 2 as an acquisition category (ACAT) III programme of record to expedite the deliveries of C-UAS systems for the country’s forces.
Following this announcement, Leonardo received two different contract modification awards to supply the C-UAS systems in October and November 2022, valued at approximately $40m and $20m, respectively.
