Chairman Wicker Commends Pentagon for Accelerating Counter Drone Production with New Contract

Chairman Wicker Commends Pentagon for Accelerating Counter Drone Production with New Contract May 20, 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today applauded Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) and Pentagon leadership for moving forward on a counter-drone contract with Perennial Autonomy, an American company working closely with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Chairman Wicker released the following statement: “Drone warfare is restructuring the modern battlefield. Our ability to counter adversarial drones cost-effectively will be critical in the years ahead. I applaud JIATF-401 for charging ahead to augment the American arsenal with its first large contract for counter-drone systems to Perennial Autonomy, an American company that developed its products with Ukraine in the crucible of cutting-edge drone warfare. This contract was directly funded out of a $750 million appropriation to JIATF-401 in the Working Families Tax Cut Act to help our forces catch up on counter-drone work here at home and abroad. This contracting action will get battle-tested Merops interceptors, Bumblebee drones, and more to our forces to defeat adversary drones.” Background: This week, the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 awarded a three-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract with a $500 million ceiling to support enterprise-wide counter-unmanned aerial system operations. Permalink: https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2026/5/chairman-wicker-commends-pentagon-for-accelerating-counter-drone-production-with-new-contract