DIU advances rapid prototypes for lower-cost C-UAS interceptors

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has begun prototyping commercial and dual-use interceptors under its Counter NEXT effort, aiming to field lower-cost, mass-producible systems that can defeat Group-3 and larger unmanned aerial threats while preserving higher-end interceptors for the most severe targets.

DIU selected Anduril Industries and Zone 5 Technologies in fall 2024 from more than 65 applicants to develop prototype solutions. Both companies completed initial design sprints and baseline flight tests within a year, and DIU says iterative improvements are now under way based on flight data and warfighter feedback.

Additional funding has been awarded to refine the prototypes, integrate them with mission partners’ combat systems and conduct safety and qualification testing ahead of a planned live-fire event in summer 2026.

Counter NEXT focuses on several operational shortfalls identified by the services. The initiative is aimed at increasing interceptor magazine depth so forces have more shots available against massed or persistent threats, simplifying and accelerating reload processes, reducing the cost imbalance between inexpensive attack drones and expensive interceptors and ensuring seamless integration with existing combat systems.

To meet those goals, DIU and its vendors are emphasising commercial off-the-shelf components and modern air-vehicle design to avoid over-engineering and to enable high-rate production. Prototypes employ a modular open-systems architecture so subsystems can be upgraded rapidly as technologies mature. DIU also said all components will be qualified to stringent military standards to deliver an enduring capability for deployed forces.

“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.

Zike added that while the project targets a specific subset of the counter-UxS problem set, variants for other domains could follow.

DIU described the approach as an attempt to close a persistent cost-asymmetry problem, using lower-cost, high-volume interceptors for common threats, while conserving higher-performance interceptors for the most challenging engagements.

Further flight testing and safety qualification rounds are scheduled in the coming months as the prototypes are refined for operational assessment.