Counter-UAS system for autonomous surface vessels unveiled by Leonardo DRS at Sea-Air-Space
NewsApril 21, 2026
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. Leonardo DRS has integrated its Maritime Mission Equipment Package onto an autonomous unmanned surface vessel, delivering a counter-uncrewed aerial system capability designed to detect, track, identify, and defeat aerial drone threats in the maritime domain, the company announced in a statement.
The system combines maritime radar and electro-optical/infrared sensors with the company's SAGEcore software platform, which provides artificial intelligence-enabled sensor fusion and command and control, along with a platform integration kit designed to accelerate installation across multiple vessel types.
Leonardo DRS displayed the system integrated onto a Sea Machines STORMRUNNER autonomous unmanned surface vessel at the Sea-Air-Space exposition in National Harbor, Maryland.
The company says the package is designed to compress the time between identifying a requirement and fielding an operational capability by combining detection, tracking, identification, and defeat functions into a single scalable system adaptable across crewed and uncrewed platforms, including unmanned surface vessels.
The M-MEP is intended to provide protection for ships, ports, littoral infrastructure, and expeditionary forces, the company says.
