Military Counter-UAS Marketplace: Who Can Buy and How

Key Takeaways

• The military counter-UAS marketplace is an online store run by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the Department of War’s counter-drone task force. A separate Army marketplace sells drones.¹ ²

• Ten contracts with a combined ceiling of $4.15 billion support it. They were awarded on September 28, 2026 and run to late September 2029.⁸ ⁹

• Access starts with a government smart card, and the card alone does not give purchasing authority. The eligible buyers the site lists are federal, military and allied.⁴ ¹¹

• Buying a counter-drone system is not authority to use it. Mitigation is limited to four federal departments and, since July 1, 2026, to trained and certified state and local law enforcement.¹⁴ ¹⁵

• A private site’s first step is to confirm who may act against a drone over its property, then buy detection or ask law enforcement for protection.¹⁴ ¹⁵

The military counter-UAS marketplace is an online store where approved government buyers order counter-drone sensors, radars, electronic warfare systems and defeat equipment under contracts already in place. Joint Interagency Task Force 401, known as JIATF 401, runs it for the Department of War, as the Defense Department now styles itself.¹

If you run security at a utility, a refinery, a port, an airport or a data center, this marketplace is worth understanding. It shows what the government has vetted, how fast it can buy, and who may use the equipment once it arrives.

Two marketplaces, one for drones and one for counter-drone systems

The Army runs two online platforms, “one dedicated to UAS and one to Counter-UAS capabilities,” in its own words.²

• The counter-UAS marketplace belongs to JIATF 401. It reached initial operational capability in February 2026, hosted on an existing Army equipment catalog.³ A rebuilt platform went live in July 2026 at cuas.mil, and “access is limited to approved buyers and sellers.”⁴

• The UAS marketplace sells drones. The Army launched it on March 24, 2026, with 30 systems listed at the start.⁵ It had processed $800 million in transactions by October 14, 2026.¹

This post covers the counter-drone side, which is the one a site security team is more likely to hear about.

What the counter-drone marketplace sells

The first orders, reported in April 2026, covered “low-collateral defeat effectors, sensor systems, radars and electronic warfare systems.”⁶ By then the marketplace listed about a dozen counter-UAS systems, with an inventory of sensors, effectors and components that the task force keeps adding to.⁶

Purchases were still modest by mid-2026. The first four orders came to $13 million, and the total reached $21 million by August 3, 2026.⁶ ⁷

The contracts behind it

On September 28, 2026, the Army awarded ten firm-fixed-price contracts for commercial counter-drone capabilities, each an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract.⁸ That type sets a ceiling and leaves individual orders to be placed later. Each contract drew 50 bids.⁸

• Ceilings: seven at $500 million, two at $250 million and one at $150 million, for $4.15 billion combined.⁸ ⁹

• Term: estimated completion on September 27 or 28, 2029.⁸

• Money committed at award: $50 million across all ten, according to the task force’s acquisition director.⁹

• What they feed: the task force’s program to protect military sites in the US, the counter-UAS marketplace, and other counter-drone requirements.¹⁰

The Army’s top acquisition official said the marketplace “enforces strict open architecture standards, breaking proprietary vendor lock.”¹⁰ For a buyer, that means systems from different makers are meant to plug into the same government networks.

Who can buy from it

The marketplace is open to “users across the War Department and other federal agencies,” the department said in April 2026.⁶ A government smart card is the first check. A task force spokesperson added that it “does not by itself confer purchasing authority.”¹¹

The rebuilt site lists its eligible buyers as federal procurement officers, military commands and pre-cleared allied or partner defense ministries.⁴ Allies are joining steadily. The Army lists 29 partner nations across its drone and counter-drone marketplaces after a signing on October 13, 2026.² ¹²

State and local agencies are less clear. Army leadership said in April 2026 that state and local law enforcement could buy from the site.¹³ The August description of eligible buyers leaves them out.⁴ A state or local agency should confirm its eligibility with JIATF 401 before planning around the marketplace. No source lists private companies or critical-infrastructure operators as eligible buyers.

How fast it delivers

Army officials have described the marketplace as able to turn orders into deliveries in less than a month.⁹ For allied buyers, the Army’s top acquisition official said partners “can now move from request to purchase in days rather than months.”²

No dated example of an order delivered in under a month has been published yet. A buyer should ask for the delivery date on the order itself.

How a vendor gets listed

Vendors apply and go through vetting that lets program staff verify the business, review export controls and evaluate the product.⁴ Once approved, a vendor posts technical specifications, repair details and compliance information, and the task force’s administrators approve each listing.⁷ The marketplace plans to add performance data from the task force’s test and evaluation repository.³

Buying is not authority to stop a drone

Federal law gives limited counter-drone authority to four departments: Defense, Energy, Justice and Homeland Security.¹⁴ Buying the equipment gives the buyer none of that authority.

Since July 1, 2026, a Justice Department and Homeland Security rule lets state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement run counter-drone operations. That includes protecting critical infrastructure.¹⁵ Their operators must be trained and certified, and the FBI’s National Counter-UAS Training Center is “the sole certifying authority” for them.¹⁵ The rule is an interim one, and the authority ends on December 31, 2031.¹⁵

The same rule bars contractors from operating mitigation systems, including what it calls “turnkey or managed” counter-drone services.¹⁵ Vendors may still design, sell, install and maintain systems, and provide detection services that need no special authority.¹⁵

What a private site can do instead

A utility, refinery or data center buys outside the marketplace, directly from vendors. Two routes are open:

• Detection. A site can buy detection equipment after its own legal review. In a 2020 advisory, federal agencies said they do not approve private use of detection or mitigation, and urged companies to consult counsel.¹⁴

• Protection from law enforcement. Under the July rule, state and local agencies must report the requests they receive for counter-drone protection from critical infrastructure and airport owners and operators.¹⁵ That makes a request to local law enforcement a recognized route.

Vendors that sell to these sites publish what they cover. The Powerus counter-UAS page, for example, describes fixed-site protection for bases, depots and substations, and its critical infrastructure page lists the sectors it defends.

Frequently asked questions

What is the military counter-UAS marketplace?
An online store run by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, where approved government buyers order counter-drone equipment under contracts already in place.¹ It reached initial operational capability in February 2026.³

Who can buy from the counter-UAS marketplace?
Users across the Department of War and other federal agencies, with a government smart card as the first check.⁶ The site lists federal procurement officers, military commands and pre-cleared allied defense ministries as eligible buyers.⁴

Can a private company buy from the military counter-UAS marketplace?
No source lists private companies or critical-infrastructure operators as eligible buyers.⁴ They buy directly from vendors, after a legal review for anything beyond detection.¹⁴

Can state and local police stop drones?
Since July 1, 2026, trained and certified state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement may run counter-drone operations, including to protect critical infrastructure.¹⁵ The FBI certifies their operators, and the rule is interim.¹⁵

How does a vendor get on the marketplace?
It applies and passes vetting of the business, export controls and the product. The task force then approves each listing.⁴ ⁷

Check Authority Before Equipment

The marketplace makes counter-drone buying faster for government, and its contracts and listings show what the government has vetted. Who may act against a drone is a separate question, set by federal law and the July rule.

For a private site, the order of questions matters. Confirm who may lawfully stop a drone over your property. Then decide what you need to detect, and talk to vendors and local law enforcement about the rest.

¹ Military Times, US Army expands drone marketplace to 33 nations, October 14, 2026. The Army’s own list counts 29 (note 2).
² US Army, Army hosts international signing ceremony for UAS and counter-UAS marketplaces at AUSA 2026, October 13, 2026.
³ Seapower, Joint Interagency Task Force announces counter-UAS marketplace, February 25, 2026, reprinting the task force’s release.
⁴ Defense News, Pentagon launches online marketplace for counter-UAS technology, August 10, 2026.
⁵ US Army, US Army launches online marketplace to revolutionize drone acquisition, March 24, 2026; Breaking Defense, Army’s digital marketplace for drones is officially open, March 25, 2026.
⁶ Department of War, Counter-UAS marketplace streamlines acquisition; first purchases total $13 million, April 15, 2026.
⁷ DefenseScoop, Pentagon counter-drone hub picks software startup to develop C-UAS marketplace, August 4, 2026.
⁸ Department of War, Contracts for Sept. 29, 2026.
⁹ DefenseScoop, Pentagon task force, Army announce billions in counter-drone tech awards, September 29, 2026.
¹⁰ US Army, JIATF 401 advances Domestic Shield with counter-UAS contract awards, September 29, 2026.
¹¹ DefenseScoop, Counter-UAS marketplace reaches initial operational capability, February 25, 2026.
¹² Soldier Systems Daily, US Army Public Affairs release on the marketplace signing, October 15, 2026.
¹³ DefenseScoop, Army counter-drone marketplace and high-profile events, April 16, 2026.
¹⁴ US Department of Justice, Interagency advisory on the use of technology to detect and mitigate unmanned aircraft systems, August 17, 2020.
¹⁵ Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, interim final rule on counter-UAS authority for state, local, tribal and territorial agencies, Federal Register, July 6, 2026, effective July 1, 2026.