The hottest four letters in defense circles right now may be C-UAS. The acronym stands for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems and what’s clear from the word “systems” is that one guy with a gun isn’t an effective anti-drone solution.

The apparent need for drone killers has a higher profile as the World Cup kicks off in North America. U.S. Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin recently told Congress that federal officers downed eight drones at the Formula 1 race in Miami and another dozen that entered a no-fly zone over the Masters golf tournament. That said, Mullin admitted that “everybody’s a little behind” when it comes to anti-drone technology.

“Biggest concern I have is honestly with drones,” said Mullin. “I wouldn’t say a vulnerability, but it is one of the areas that we are struggling with every day.”

Mullin’s admission comes as drones become increasingly sophisticated thanks to AI navigation and targeting systems that are very resistant to jamming. In Ukraine, drone operators that once needed to be relatively close to targets are now using Starlink satellite networks that allow them to operate from virtually anywhere.

As might be expected from a country that’s turned into the world’s leading drone laboratory, Ukraine also is a leader when it comes to anti-drone systems. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov points to an emerging anti-drone capability recently field-tested around Kharkiv. The new air defense system automates 95% of the interception process. Operators are primarily responsible for target detection and confirmation, after which launch and engagement are automated.

Ukraine also is adding a new wrinkle to its air defense system. A company called Fire Point is reportedly poised to deliver a cheaper version of the U.S. Patriot missile, a move prompted by production backlogs at Lockheed Martin. The FP-7.x is priced at $700,000 versus $3.8 million per Patriot missile. The FP-7.x uses radar to initially locate its target but then switches to a heat-seeking infrared sensor for the final approach, a solution less technically proficient than a Patriot but also considerably less expensive. The FP-7.x is designed to defend against larger, high-altitude drones as well as ballistic missiles. Fire Point plans to begin producing three per day beginning in August with substantial deliveries in 2027.

Major sums of money are being allocated in the search for effective C-UAS. Motorola, for example, just acquired D-Fend Solutions, an Israel-based specialist in counter-drone systems, for $1.5 billion. Motorola assigned a sense of urgency to the deal in the wake of the new Safer Skies Act which allows local U.S. law enforcement to detect and destroy suspect drones, a task once the sole province of federal authorities.

“Rogue drones have transformed our skies into a landscape of unpredictable risk, where simple detection is no longer enough,” said Motorola chairman and CEO Greg Brown.

A similar sense of accelerated urgency is associated with a $2 billion deal that will send counter-drone systems made by U.S. based Anduril to Kuwait. The fast-tracked deal follows drone attacks on Kuwait’s airport by Iranian drones that caused extensive damage. Kuwait’s shopping list included kinetic launch boxes, electromagnetic warfare capabilities, command and control centers, generators and sentry towers. The deal amounts to a pivot away from Patriot systems that proved to be a non-viable solution to low-altitude and low-cost Iranian Shahed drone attacks.

The Pentagon, meanwhile is fast-tracking a new $500 million contract with Perennial Autonomy. The company’s Hornet strike drone has earned a fearsome reputation in Ukraine over the past two years but its Merops counter-drone systems has proved equally effective, downing more than 4,000 Russian drones since its debut on the Ukrainian battlefield in 2024. The U.S. military is already enamored of Merops, having bought 13,000 units at a cost of $15,000 each since the beginning of the Iran conflict. The Merops system includes computer vision, radio frequency detection, jam-resistant communications and “next level” autonomy.

The Pentagon also is looking for anti-drone systems that are more portable. The U.S. Army, for example, is testing a Grizzly drone-killing missile launcher made by Lockheed Martin that’s packed into 10-foot long shipping container.

And no one is ignoring the old-fashioned gun. The venerable gun maker Beretta now offers an automated eight-barrel shotgun mounted on a turret that fires air-burst ammo for close encounters. Similarly, Texas-based Allen Control Systems is accelerating production of its Bullfrog anti-drone weapon that’s essentially a pairing of AI with a M240 heavy machine gun. Bullfrog is already deployed with the U.S. Army and Navy via Joint Interagency Task Force 401. On the near horizon are counter-drone systems mounted on unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) for better maneuverability.

The driving force seems to be when it comes to killing drones, you want as many options as possible if you’re trying to be a step ahead.