L3Harris begins VAMPIRE counter-drone deliveries to US Army under $106 million order

· Drones

TLDR

  • L3Harris has begun delivering VAMPIRE counter-drone systems to the US Army under an order worth $106 million.12
  • FW-MAG reports 12 systems delivered in September, monthly deliveries until December, and 35 systems ordered in total.2
  • An unnamed international customer has placed an order five times larger by value, according to FW-MAG.2

L3Harris has started delivering its VAMPIRE counter-drone system to the US Army under a $106 million order first announced in June, FW-MAG reports from the AUSA expo in Washington.2 Chris Aebli, president of L3Harris Communications & Spectrum Dominance, told a media briefing that 12 systems were delivered in September, that deliveries will continue monthly until December, and that 35 systems were ordered in total.2 FW-MAG says VAMPIRE has already been deployed to Ukraine.2

Aebli also confirmed a "much larger order" from an international customer for an undisclosed number of VAMPIREs, which FW-MAG reports as "5 times larger in terms of value" than the Army order, to be supplied "on pickup trucks."2 MilitaryLeak, which reports the first deliveries, adds that the system has logged more than 350,000 operational hours since 2023 and that a VAMPIRE factory opened in Huntsville, Alabama earlier in 2026.1 Both reports carry the company's own statements, so they should not be read as independent confirmation of its figures.12

Why it matters: the deliveries move VAMPIRE from contract award to fielding with the Army, and the company's statements about a far larger foreign order and a Huntsville factory point to production capacity being built beyond the US order; the customer, unit count and delivery schedule for that order remain undisclosed.

Sources

  1. L3Harris delivers first VAMPIRE units to US Army for drone defense (MilitaryLeak)
  2. AUSA 2026: Protecting ground troops from aerial threats (FW-MAG Future Warfare Magazine)