US Navy picks 9-mile-range VAMPIRE system to kill drones with 70mm rockets

L3Harris Technologies, a U.S. defense technology company, has been selected by the U.S. Navy to deliver VAMPIRE counter-unmanned systems for littoral defense, the company announced on September 8. The weapons will support the United States’ growing integrated counter-unmanned systems architecture. VAMPIRE is a self-contained system that provides advanced reconnaissance and precision-strike capabilities against drones and remotely piloted platforms across multiple operating domains. Self-contained counter-drone weapon VAMPIRE stands for Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Rocket Equipment. L3Harris describes it as a portable kit that can be installed on most vehicles equipped with a cargo bed. The system brings reconnaissance and precision engagement capabilities together in a single weapons solution. According to L3Harris, VAMPIRE can be configured to launch Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) rockets or other laser-guided munitions. However, the company has not identified the ammunition that will be supplied with the Navy systems. The anti-drone system can engage targets at ranges of up to 9 miles (15 km) when equipped with laser-guided 70mm APKWS rockets. L3Harris says the wider VAMPIRE family incorporates sensors, precision weapons, electronic jammers and non-kinetic effectors. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate the detection, engagement and defeat of small unmanned threats. The company has developed several versions of the system for different missions. These include land, maritime, airborne, containerized, base-defense and electronic-warfare variants, although L3Harris has not specified which named variant the Navy will receive. VAMPIRE modified for maritime conditions L3Harris is engineering new capabilities for the Navy and ruggedizing VAMPIRE against the environmental stresses encountered in maritime environments. The company did not provide technical details about those modifications. “VAMPIRE is a flexible and effective system that meets the unique requirements of the U.S. Navy for littoral C-UxS defense,” said Tony Calderon, president of Targeting & Sensor Systems within L3Harris’ Communications & Spectrum Dominance business. “We’re engineering new capabilities to adapt to our customers’ missions and ruggedizing VAMPIRE against the environmental stresses of maritime environments,” he added. The value of the Navy order was not disclosed. L3Harris also did not reveal the number of systems involved or provide a delivery schedule. The announcement did not include an engagement range, launcher capacity, or other performance specifications. Layered defense against unmanned systems The Navy selection follows a separate U.S. Army order for VAMPIRE. Together, the programs extend the system’s use across the two military services, although their respective configurations have not been detailed. L3Harris is separately delivering Wraith Shield software to support layered counter-drone operations. Unveiled earlier in 2026, the software provides a radio-as-a-sensor capability designed to help defeat small drones. Wraith Shield can be incorporated with VAMPIRE and the company’s Drone Guardian system. L3Harris describes Drone Guardian as a counter-unmanned aircraft system that autonomously detects, tracks, and identifies drone threats using multiple correlated sensors. Integrating the three technologies provides layered defense against unmanned threats. VAMPIRE supplies reconnaissance and precision-strike capabilities, while Wraith Shield contributes radio-based sensing and Drone Guardian adds autonomous detection, tracking, and identification. L3Harris provides defense technology across the space, air, land, sea, and cyber domains. The Navy selection adds VAMPIRE to the company’s expanding work on counter-unmanned systems for U.S. military customers. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.