The Defense Innovation Unit has selected Anduril Industries and Zone 5 Technologies to develop prototype counter-unmanned aerial systems under the Counter NEXT program. The effort focuses on rapidly prototyping commercially derived interceptors that defeat Group 3 and larger threats, protect national airspace, and safeguard personnel, equipment and facilities.
The companies were chosen from more than 65 commercial and dual-use applicants, DIU said Monday, noting that Anduril and Zone 5 completed initial design and development sprints and baseline flight testing of their proposed counter-UAS products in less than a year. Based on data, warfighter feedback and lessons from the first sprint, Anduril and Zone 5 are making iterative improvements ahead of further flight testing and safety and qualification activities.
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Counter-UAS Prototype Funding
Following the recent flight demonstrations, DIU awarded additional funding to both Anduril and Zone 5 to refine their prototypes, integrate with mission partners’ combat systems and complete the safety testing required prior to a planned live-fire test event in summer 2026. DIU said further flight testing and qualification work will take place in the months ahead.
Counter NEXT Focus Areas and Design Goals
Counter NEXT concentrates on several specific capability gaps: providing a deeper interceptor magazine to preserve higher-cost interceptors for the most demanding threats, simplifying and accelerating the reloading process, addressing the current cost asymmetry between threats and interceptors, and integrating prototype interceptors with existing combat systems. DIU said vendors are applying modern air vehicle design approaches so platforms are fit for purpose without using unnecessarily costly materials.
To reduce supply-chain risk and keep unit costs low, the prototypes use commercial off-the-shelf components where feasible. The systems are being built with a modular open systems architecture to enable rapid subsystem upgrades and easier integration as components improve. DIU said all solution elements will be qualified and certified to stringent military standards before fielding.
“The Counter NEXT project is focused on leveraging the best-in-breed commercially derived technology and processes to accelerate the development, production, and fielding of these vital Counter UAS interceptors to our warfighters,” said Joshua Zike, Counter NEXT program manager for DIU. “While this solution is focused on a specific, pressing subset of the counter UxS problem set, variants for all domains should be developed and deployed to provide this vital layered kinetic counter UxS defeat capability to all our warfighters.”
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