Middle East & North Africa
Raytheon wins $729 million in LIDS counter-drone contracts for the U.S. Army, Qatar and Jordan
Raytheon says the $729 million contracts for LIDS components cover the U.S. Army, Qatar and Jordan, and mark the first international sales of the KuRFS radar and Coyote interceptor.
Raytheon, an RTX business, has been awarded $729 million in contracts for components of the LIDS counter-drone system, with the U.S. Army, Qatar and Jordan named as customers, the company said on 13 October. It described the deals as the first international sales of the KuRFS radar and the Coyote interceptor.
LIDS stands for Low, slow, small, unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System, a U.S. Army programme. According to Raytheon, the contracts cover a mix of fixed-site and mobile configurations. The release does not say how the money is divided between the three customers, and it gives no delivery schedule.
What is being bought
Two items stand out. KuRFS, short for Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor, is the radar that gives the system 360-degree detection of threats. Coyote is the effector, a low-cost interceptor that Raytheon says can defeat both single drones and swarms and has hundreds of combat intercepts to its name.
Tom Laliberty, president of Land and Air Defense Systems at Raytheon, called LIDS “a proven and cost-effective layer of defense” and spoke of a “battle-tested solution” that can be scaled up. The company says it is investing to raise production and to give Coyote faster launch times, higher speed and longer range at greater altitude.
Why it matters
The announcement shows a U.S. Army counter-drone programme reaching Gulf and Levant partners at a time when cheap drones are a central problem for air defence planners. The cost of the interceptor against the cost of the target is the issue the Coyote is designed to address. Governments in the region are not named as having commented on the contracts, and the details of what Qatar and Jordan will receive come only from the manufacturer.
The deal comes in the same week the U.S. Army has been taking delivery of other counter-drone equipment; see VAMPIRE: US Army receives first L3Harris counter-drone systems two months after the order.
Source: RTX press release, 13 October 2026.
