On January 16, 2024, the U.S. Army awarded a contract to RTX Corporation in the amount of $75 million for the production of 600 Coyote 2C anti-drone interceptors.
The contract award was made under the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Rapid Acquisition Authority mechanism, which allowed all instances of the procurement process to be completed in less than 30 days from the time of authorization approval and receipt of funding.
The contract responds to an increase in demand for Coyote interceptors and the consequent need to increase production capacity. This demand must be related to recent attacks on U.S. military bases in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq.
Drone hunting Coyote
Developed by Raytheon, it is a small, expendable, tube-launched, unmanned aerial system. It can be deployed from land, air or ship. The Coyote UAS can be flown individually or networked in swarms, and is adaptable for a variety of missions including surveillance, electronic warfare and strike. The system can operate for up to one hour and is designed for interchangeable payloads.
This latter capability proved useful in developing the Coyote as an anti-drone capability, as it could be equipped with an advanced seeker and a powerful warhead, allowing the Coyote system to successfully intercept and kill UAVs at greater distances and altitude than other similar systems.
