Counter-UAS systems for special operations to be featured by L3Harris at SOF Week
NewsMay 15, 2026
TAMPA, Florida. L3Harris will highlight counter-uncrewed aerial system (C-UAS) technology, tactical communications, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems, night vision equipment, fiber-optic cables, tethered intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and its Red Wolf vehicle during SOF Week, company officials told Military Embedded Systems.
For special operations forces, a focus of the company’s presence at the show will be VAMPIRE, L3Harris’ counter-UAS kinetic effector system. Tom Kirkland, president of targeting and sensor systems/communications and spectrum dominance at L3Harris, said the company is seeing demand from U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and international special operations customers for layered counter-UAS defenses that can address threats at different ranges and incorporate kinetic and non-kinetic options.
“What we hear a lot from USSOCOM, as well as international special forces community, is ... they've all been focused on layered defense,” Kirkland said.
VAMPIRE is designed as a modular system that can be scaled depending on the mission and integrated with other capabilities, he said. The system fires the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) round, which Kirkland said gives users a lower-cost effector option against inexpensive drone threats.
The cost issue has become a central requirement in the counter-UAS market, he said, because using high-cost interceptors against low-cost drones is not sustainable. Kirkland said L3Harris is positioning VAMPIRE around that economic balance, along with modularity, ease of use, reliability, and integration with wider layered defense networks.
“We all talk about the cost per kill ... so that is one of the largest ones, is the economic advantage between our system and the drones that our customers are out there hunting,” Kirkland said.
Modularity is important because the counter-UAS threat environment is changing quickly, he said. VAMPIRE leverages open standards and software-based plug-and-play capabilities, including the company’s WIDOW mission-management software, he said, adding that the system can operate as a standalone capability or connect into larger layered defense architectures.
For special operations forces, that ability to adapt matters because counter-UAS missions are unlikely to depend on one effector or sensor type. Kirkland said future counter-UAS architectures will require communications networks, electronic warfare systems, kinetic interceptors, and other capabilities working together.
“It's always going to be that modular, integrated approach that is going to be important,” he said.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also being added to the platform. L3Harris has partnered with Shield AI to help reduce operator workload and identify threats earlier. The company expects to add more AI-enabled capabilities to VAMPIRE, he said.
L3Harris also recently opened a manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama, to support production capacity for VAMPIRE systems. The company made internal investments in inventory, capability development, and manufacturing to prepare for customer demand, he added.
Jordan Guerrein, public relations principal at L3Harris, said the company will also feature SkyRaider II outside the convention center during SOF Week, along with WESCAM systems, night vision products, tactical communications equipment, and other capabilities used by special operations forces.
