The US Army has awarded L3Harris a contract worth up to $106 million for the delivery of an undisclosed number of VAMPIRE counter-unmanned aerial systems, reinforcing the Pentagon’s layered air defense strategy against evolving drone threats.
Short for Vehicle Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment, VAMPIRE is a self-contained and cost-effective platform designed to provide intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and precision-strike capabilities against hostile drones and remotely piloted aircraft. Since the US supplied 14 VAMPIRE systems to Ukraine in 2023, the platform has accumulated more than 350,000 operational hours. Additional orders followed in 2025 to support missions across Europe.
According to Tom Kirkland, President of Targeting & Sensor Systems, Communications & Spectrum Dominance at L3Harris, the company worked closely with the Army to create a counter-drone capability that can be rapidly assembled, deployed, and brought into action.
Since receiving its first Pentagon contract in 2023, the VAMPIRE system has undergone several enhancements, including the integration of an AI- and machine learning-enabled sensor package. In 2025, L3Harris introduced specialized variants optimized for land, maritime, airborne, and electronic warfare operations.
The platform’s modular plug-and-play design has enabled integration with GM Defense’s Infantry Squad Vehicle, while demonstrations have also paired it with Thales’ FZ275 70mm laser-guided rockets for engaging ground-based targets. To meet growing global demand for counter-drone capabilities, L3Harris began expanding VAMPIRE production at its Huntsville, Alabama, facility in March 2026.
