U.S. Army orders more FD-1 drone interceptors

The U.S. Army has placed a second order for the FD-1, a drone interceptor that a single soldier can set up and launch in under two minutes, from Florida-based Mountain Horse Solutions, less than a year after the system first came to the service’s attention. The order was issued on Oct. 8 by the U.S. Army’s Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate, known as G-TEAD, under an Other Transaction Agreement, a flexible contracting tool that lets the military buy and prototype new technology faster than through traditional contracts. It follows an initial G-TEAD agreement awarded this spring, and the company said the FD-1 is already fielded. Neither Mountain Horse Solutions nor the U.S. Army disclosed the contract value or how many interceptors are being bought. The FD-1 is designed to destroy Group 1 to Group 3 drones, a range that runs from small quadcopters up to aircraft weighing several hundred kilograms, and can also be used against ground targets. One operator handles the system instead of a crew, and the company says it can work as the strike element behind an existing radar or tracking network or as a standalone system. A soldier stays in control throughout each engagement, and a human authorizes every shot. The company built the FD-1 to address a cost problem that has strained air defenses in Ukraine and the Middle East, where cheap drones arrive in large numbers and are often shot down with interceptors that cost far more than their targets. It won first prize in the U.S. Army’s xTech Counter Strike competition in November 2025, and the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command has completed its technical review. Photo by Mountain Horse Solutions Soldiers from G-TEAD, the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the test command evaluated the FD-1, and after each operational assessment Mountain Horse Solutions delivered user-driven upgrades within five weeks, the company said. “Soldiers assessed the FD-1 and told us what needed improvement. We turned those updates around within weeks, and G-TEAD provided a way to buy the revised version without waiting on a requirements cycle. That sequence did not exist three years ago,” said Bill Allen, president of Mountain Horse Solutions. G-TEAD places acquisition teams inside the U.S. Army’s regional commands so field commanders can buy and test new equipment quickly, using events called Accelerated Capability Events that aim to move a technology from concept to transition within 180 days. The FD-1 effort stayed within that timeline from operational assessment through the new award, with the 409th Contracting Support Brigade handling the contracting. The directorate is planning its next such event, focused on counter-drone systems, for spring 2027 in Morocco, where soldiers will test up to 15 drone-defense solutions. “Soldiers find things a test range never will. G-TEAD built the pathway that turns their feedback into fielded improvements within weeks instead of program cycles and then gave the Army a way to order it,” said Richard Budniewski, director of UAS and counter-UAS programs at Mountain Horse Solutions. Mountain Horse Solutions, part of Global Ordnance, said it is producing the FD-1 now and has capacity to expand output for further U.S. Army orders as well as for allied and partner nations.