UAV Warfare Pushes U.S. to Spend Billions on Air-Defense Protection

The U.S. Department of the War recently announced a contract with Raytheon for supply of their Coyote jet air-defense drones. The contract also covers mobile and fixed launchers as well as Ku‑band radars.

The contract is valued at $5.039 billion. Deliveries are planned to be completed by 28 September 2033 i.e., over eight years. The exact quantity of equipment was not disclosed, but for that sum one could procure a very large number of Coyote interceptors.

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For context, the unit cost of the Coyote in the 2C variant is $125,000. So, if one imagines that the entire $5.039 billion were spent solely on interceptors, the U.S. could acquire about 40,317 units. Of course, this is only a hypothetical example, because a substantial share of the $5.039 billion will go toward launchers and radars.

Still, even so, under this contract the U.S. will receive thousands of Coyote interceptors, which will certainly strengthen their readiness to repel massed drone attacks in a large war scenario for example, with China.

Coyote interceptor launcher Block 2 mounted on a destroyer,UAV Warfare Pushes U.S. to Spend Billions on Air-Defense Protection — Coyote interceptor launcher Block 2 mounted on a destroyer / Photo credit: U.S. Navy

It's worth recalling that the U.S. currently produces about 100 Coyote interceptors per month, which means that, over eight years, they could produce only about 9,600 units assuming production capacity is not expanded, which it likely will be.

Under the contract, Coyote interceptors will be supplied in two variants: a single-use version for physical interception of targets, and a reusable version that functions more as an ISR or as a carrier for auxiliary equipment such as EW systems.

Coyote 2C,UAV Warfare Pushes U.S. to Spend Billions on Air-Defense Protection — Coyote 2C / Open-source photo

Also notable the U.S. Navy is experimenting with deploying Coyotes on their destroyers to bolster ship defense against aerial drones and probably on naval vessels generally. The U.S. has also tested mounting these drones on helicopters and even on Bradley IFVs.

But that isn't the limit of possible employment. The U.S. is converting KC-135 air tankers into true flying aircraft carriers capable of launching drones directly in flight. It is quite likely that those launched drones will be Coyotes.

Coyote LE SR launching from a helicopter,UAV Warfare Pushes U.S. to Spend Billions on Air-Defense Protection — Coyote LE SR launching from a helicopter / Open-source photo

This rapid expansion of Coyote use began only a few years ago and has accelerated despite the platform's relatively high cost for what’s considered a budget counter‑drone means. The reason is clear: Coyote has already proven itself in combat conditions, having intercepted 170 enemy targets.