US Army to receive 600 Coyote drone interceptors in $75 million deal

News, US February 14, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

The U.S. Army finalized a $75 million deal to buy hundreds of drone-killing Coyote interceptors from defense contractor RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies) to fortify its ability to counter unmanned aerial systems.

According to a statement, the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space is leading the procurement project, focusing on advancing overhead defenses, long-range rocket systems, directed-energy lasers, and additional technologies.

600 units of the ground-launched, radar-guided Coyote 2C devices will be acquired in the current batch while deals for additional units and different variants will be finalized in the coming month. The fast-paced acquisition is expected to be completed within 30 days, a significantly shorter timeframe compared to traditional methods that can span months or even years.

Following the escalation of drone attacks on the U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria as well as the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the U.S. Army increased its focus on acquiring and deploying anti-drone defense systems. As the drones are cheaper and usually used in swarms for attacks, the drone defense systems must also have similar characteristics.

The U.S. Army has already been using Coyote systems in both mobile and stationary configurations as part of the Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (LIDS). The recent acquisition signifies an increase in demand and production of Coyote systems.

*^{The Coyote counter-drone interceptor. (Image Credit: Raytheon)}*

The current procurement would be followed by a contracting notice outlining the military’s plan to procure and deploy thousands of Coyote interceptors, along with hundreds of their corresponding launchers and radars, over the next five fiscal years.

In April 2023, the United States Army awarded a $237 million contract to the RTX for its Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensors (KuRFS) and Coyote effectors to counter unmanned aircraft. The Ku-band Radio Frequency System is a 360-degree radar that senses incoming drones, rockets, artillery, and mortars. The system can carry defensive weapons, and it can be set up within 30 minutes on a vehicle or in a fixed location.

The KuRFS system can be paired with the Coyote’s kinetic and non-kinetic variants. The term “kinetic,” in U.S. military parlance, generally refers to missiles or other traditional types of weapons that directly strike their targets. Non-kinetic systems, such as electronic warfare tools or high-powered microwaves, use other types of capabilities to take out enemy systems.

The Coyote 2C is a kinetic interceptor, which means it collides with the incoming threat to neutralize it, while the Coyote 3 is non-kinetic. The non-kinetic type of payload reduces potential collateral damage and enables the variant to be recovered and reused. The Block 3 Coyote has a more traditional UAV design with wings and an electric motor like the original Coyote Block 1 but is bigger in size.