Army Awards Anduril $20B Lattice Counter-Drone Contract as First Task Order in New Enterprise Vehicle

📡 NEWS BRIEF — MARCH 2026

Defense Tech • Counter-UAS / C-UAS

Army Awards Anduril $20B Lattice Counter-Drone Contract as First Task Order in New Enterprise Vehicle

The U.S. Army awarded Anduril Industries an $87 million task order as the inaugural award under a new enterprise counter-drone contract vehicle valued at up to $20 billion over 10 years. The contract designates Anduril's Lattice software platform as the C2 backbone for JITF-401, the Pentagon's primary counter-UAS task force.

Lattice: AI-Enabled Sensor-Fused C2

Lattice integrates data from radar, RF sensors, EO/IR cameras, and acoustic detectors to autonomously detect, track, and classify drone threats. Open architecture allows rapid integration of new effectors without rewriting command logic. The $20B ceiling creates a long-term acquisition runway for continuous C-UAS capability onboarding under a single contract vehicle.

Army Activates Apache Drone Wingmen Unit

Complementing the Lattice award, the Army activated Foxtrot Troop — a new Tactical UAS-Launched Effects unit pairing AH-64 Apache helicopters with autonomous drone wingmen. The unit extends Apache crew situational awareness by deploying small UAS ahead of manned aircraft. Manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) doctrine is what C-UAS systems like Lattice are designed to support.

Strategic Signal for Korean Defense Tech

DoD is consolidating C-UAS C2 around a single software-defined architecture. For allied nations and defense tech startups, this creates an integration opportunity — building sensors and effectors that plug into Lattice. CBRN-CADS should consider Lattice API compatibility as a key design criterion for export and interoperability.

#CounterDrone #CUAS #Anduril #Lattice #DefenseTech #CBRNCADS #MilitaryAI