U.S. Marines Buy British NightFighter Mini Counter-Drone Jammers – UAS VISION

U.S. Marines Buy British NightFighter Mini Counter-Drone Jammers – UAS VISION

The U.S. Marine Corps awarded a $9.5 million contract to a British defence company to procure compact radio frequency jammers capable of neutralizing small drones — and the urgency language attached to the award signals that this is not routine procurement.

Marine Corps System Command in Quantico, Virginia, awarded the $9,515,508 firm-fixed-price and cost reimbursement contract on Friday to SteelRock Technologies Ltd. of London, United Kingdom. The contract covers the procurement of NightFighter Mini Systems and associated spares in support of Program Manager Ground Based Air Defense’s Organic-Counter small Unmanned Aerial Systems program, known as O-CsUAS. Delivery of all supplies is required on or before August 25, 2026. The entire $9,515,508 was obligated at award using fiscal year 2024 Marine Corps procurement funds. All work will be performed in London.

The NightFighter Mini is the most compact system in SteelRock’s NightFighter product family, which also includes the larger NightFighter S and NightFighter X. All three employ the same directed radio frequency mitigation technology — the Mini packages that capability into a single-piece form factor weighing 2 kilograms with battery installed and measuring 25 centimeters long, 15 centimeters wide, and 19 centimeters tall with its sight fitted. A single operator runs the system. It covers four preset radio frequency bands, including Wi-Fi and military spectrum bands, and its effective range is defined as Visual Line of Sight — meaning the operator can engage any drone they can see.

The system supports two mission types. The first is sidearm or weapon-mounted UAV mitigation — the NightFighter Mini can be attached to a rifle or carried as a sidearm, allowing an individual Marine to engage drone threats without dedicated counter-UAS equipment or a separate operator. The second is Tactical Electronic Interdiction, or TEI, which refers to the broader electronic disruption of adversary unmanned systems in a tactical area. The combination of those two mission profiles in a 2-kilogram package represents a significant compression of what has historically required heavier, more expensive, and less mobile equipment.

Radio frequency jamming works by overwhelming the control and navigation signals that keep a drone connected to its operator and oriented in space. Commercial drones rely on radio links — typically operating in Wi-Fi frequencies or dedicated control bands — to receive commands from their operators and, in many cases, to maintain GPS navigation. A jammer that floods those frequencies with interference severs that connection. Depending on how the drone is programmed, losing its control link causes it to hover in place, return to its launch point, or descend — none of which are useful outcomes for an adversary trying to conduct reconnaissance or deliver a payload.

The NightFighter Mini’s four preset bands cover th