Pentagon's counter-drone budget nears $1B as lasers and microwaves push toward fielding
Reusable interceptors and EW lead near-term buys; directed energy stays a 2030 story told as a 2026 one
Summary
The US Department of Defense is pushing its Counter Uas budget toward ~$1B, with the US Army detailing a near-$1B small-drone-defeat plan and an FY27 request in the same range. Near-term money goes to reusable kinetic interceptors (e.g. Anduril Roadrunner) and non-kinetic Electronic Warfare (e.g. Rtx Coyote, Epirus microwave), not lasers: directed energy gets a comparatively modest $66M line for two Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) systems, and analysts warn the laser story is "a 2030 story being told as a 2026 story". Drivers are the Middle East and southern-border drone threats and the Ukraine/Lebanon proof that mass cheap drones overwhelm point defences. The unsolved problem is cost-per-kill: defeating a $400 drone with a $1M+ interceptor does not scale.
By the numbers
- ~$1B — Army small counter-UAS procurement plan; FY27 DoD request in the same range.
- $66M — directed-energy line for two Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) systems.
- 2030 — realistic horizon for laser counter-drone at scale, per analysts.
- 3 — near-term defeat layers: reusable interceptors, EW, high-power microwave.
Why it matters
The split between near-term EW/interceptors and a deferred laser future exposes the core counter-drone economics problem: defenders must win on cost-per-kill against $300–400 weapons. It shapes which firms — defence-tech (Anduril, Epirus) vs primes (Rtx) — capture a fast-growing budget.
What to watch
- FY27 appropriations and whether the ~$1B holds through markup.
- E-HEL fielding milestones vs the "2030" caveat.
- Cost-per-kill data from Middle East and border deployments.