Raytheon has secured a new $197 million contract from the U.S. Army to deliver Coyote interceptors, part of the military’s ongoing strategy to strengthen defences against UAS threats. The contract, announced by the Department of Defense in an email release last week, will run until September 2027, reflecting the Army’s continued investment in counter-drone technologies as threats from adversarial drones rise on modern battlefields.
The Coyote interceptors, developed by Raytheon, are ground-launched and radar-guided systems capable of neutralising enemy drones. These interceptors come in both kinetic and non-kinetic variants. The Army has integrated them into its larger “system of systems” to defend troops from low, slow and small UAS threats.
Earlier this year, the Army awarded Raytheon’s parent company, RTX Corp., a $75 million contract for the production of 600 Coyote Block 2C interceptors, underlining the military’s increasing reliance on these systems. The contract announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense last week did not specify the number of interceptors to be produced in the new deal or the specific variants, and Army officials have not yet released further details.
The Army’s fiscal 2025 budget request includes $116.3 million for additional Coyote interceptors, reflecting the high demand for counter-drone systems. According to previous planning documents, the Army’s projected needs include thousands of interceptors and hundreds of supporting systems, such as launcher systems and radar sensors, over the next few years.
With adversaries increasingly deploying drone technology, particularly in the U.S. Central Command region in the Middle East, the Coyote system is seen as a key part of the U.S. military’s counter-drone capabilities.
