DIU advances Counter NEXT with Anduril and Zone 5 to deliver new C-UAS interceptor prototypes

DIU and its Department of War (DoW) partners selected Anduril Industries and Zone 5 Technologies to develop prototype solutions for the Counter NEXT programme in fall 2024, chosen from more than 65 commercial and dual-use company applicants. Less than a year later both vendors completed initial design and developmental sprints and successful baseline flight testing of their proposed solutions, and iterative improvements are now being made based on data gathered and warfighter feedback.

The Counter NEXT project concentrates on providing a deeper interceptor magazine for forces while preserving exquisite interceptors for exquisite threats, simplifying and accelerating the reloading process and addressing the cost asymmetry between current threats and interceptors. A further priority is integration with existing combat systems so the prototypes can operate within current mission architectures.

Vendors are incorporating commercial off-the-shelf components wherever possible to mitigate supply chain bottlenecks and keep costs low, while leveraging modern air-vehicle design concepts so platforms are not over-engineered for their mission. The designs aim to minimise use of expensive materials and enable high-rate production that is not possible with today’s more exquisite interceptors.

“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. “While this solution is focused on a specific, pressing subset of the counter UxS problem set, variants for all domains should be developed and deployed to provide this vital layered kinetic counter UxS defeat capability to all our warfighters.”

To allow rapid integration of improving subsystems and components, the Counter NEXT prototypes use a modular open systems architecture and are being designed for mass production using modern manufacturing techniques. All components will be qualified and certified to stringent military standards to provide an enduring capability wherever the solution is deployed.

Following Anduril and Zone 5’s recent successful flight demonstrations, both vendors received additional funding to further refine their rapid prototypes and integrate their systems with mission partners’ combat systems. The funding will also support the safety and qualification testing required prior to a live fire test event in the summer of 2026.

Source: Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).