MARINES PLAN $19M COUNTER-DRONE VEHICLES
PHOTO CAPTION: V2X’s Tempest mobile counter-UAS system. The Marine Corps awarded a $19.06 million contract in August 2026 for 10 Tempest vehicles. Photo credit: V2X
The Marine Corps has awarded a $19 million contract for 10 highly mobile Tempest vehicles designed to help maneuver forces detect and defeat enemy drones while quickly relocating on the battlefield.
The Pentagon announced the $19.06 million award to Vertex Modernization and Sustainment LLC on Aug. 11. The deal covers 10 Tempest vehicles along with software management, spare parts, ancillary components, training and associated support services.
According to the Defense Department, the systems are intended to mitigate unmanned aerial system threats while providing maneuverability and extended protection for Marine forces.
Work will primarily be performed in Indianapolis and is expected to be completed by Aug. 10, 2027.
The Tempest is built around a lightweight off-road vehicle and is intended to give air-defense crews a much more mobile option than traditional fixed or semi-fixed systems.
Publicly demonstrated versions of the platform have paired radar and missile launchers with a small commercial-style off-road chassis, allowing crews to move into position, engage a drone and relocate quickly.
That “shoot-and-scoot” approach has become increasingly important as drones have transformed modern battlefields. Fixed air-defense positions can themselves become targets once their location is detected.
The Tempest has already appeared in Ukrainian service, where publicly released imagery has shown the platform carrying AGM-114-series Hellfire missiles in a counter-drone role.
Ukraine’s Air Command released footage earlier this year showing a Tempest crew operating the system against Russian unmanned aircraft. Ukrainian operators said the vehicle had been used to shoot down multiple Shahed-type attack drones.
The Marine Corps contract, however, does not specify which missile or interceptor configuration the service’s 10 Tempest vehicles will ultimately carry.
The contract instead focuses on the broader counter-UAS capability and the ability to protect maneuvering forces while remaining mobile.
The purchase comes as the Marine Corps rapidly expands its counter-drone training and equipment.
In July, Marines at Twentynine Palms conducted the service’s first dedicated counter-small unmanned aerial system training lanes during Service Level Training Exercise 4-26.
Those training events required Marines to detect and respond to simulated enemy drones using emerging tactics and equipment while continuing normal ground operations.
The service has increasingly treated drones as a threat that every unit may encounter rather than a problem reserved solely for specialized air-defense units.
The Tempest purchase gives the Marine Corps another mobile option as it works to protect dispersed formations from reconnaissance drones, attack drones and larger unmanned aircraft.
The Pentagon awarded the Tempest contract as an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity agreement. No money was obligated at the time of the initial award; funds will be obligated through individual task orders as they are issued.
(Source: OAF Nation)
