U.S. Orders 210 SMASH 2000LE and Cerberus XL Counter-Drone Systems in $6.1M Base Defense Program.

Joint Interagency Task Force 401 has ordered 210 SMASH 2000LE rifle-mounted counter-drone systems and a Cerberus XL sensor suite for U.S. Northern and Strategic Command missions, supporting U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command.

The $6.1 million Domestic Shield package, announced March 24, integrates SmartShooter’s SMASH 2000LE precision fire-control sights with a Cerberus XL multi-sensor counter-UAS platform. The system supports layered defense by linking distributed sensors, RF detection, and kinetic response through the Lattice command-and-control network. The contract also includes radar repositioning to the National Capital Region, reinforcing homeland protection against small UAV threats.

Read also: Premiere of Teledyne's Cerberus XL C-UAS FLIR Defense Unveiled at AUSA in the United States.

JIATF 401's $6.1 million Domestic Shield contract adds 210 SMASH 2000LE counter-drone sights and a Cerberus XL system to strengthen the layered defense of U.S. bases and critical infrastructure against small UAV threats (Picture source: U.S. DoW/ Aerovironment).

The importance of the award lies less in its dollar value than in the architecture it reinforces. JIATF 401 says the requirement is for distributed sensing, real-time tracking, and both kinetic and non-kinetic effectors, while also moving two radar systems to the National Capital Region and advancing Lattice as the command-and-control backbone linking sensors and shooters across agencies.

At the sharp end of that architecture is the SMASH 2000LE, a rifle-mounted fire-control sight intended to turn a standard carbine into a precision hard-kill counter-drone weapon. Public SmartShooter data on the SMASH 2000 family shows a system built around target acquisition and tracking algorithms, ballistic computation, and controlled shot release, with a sighting unit mounted on a MIL-STD-1913 rail and a fire-block mechanism integrated into a replacement grip and trigger-guard assembly. The published architecture includes x1 see-through optics, day and low-light engagement modes, selectable ballistics for rifles and ammunition types, and a rechargeable battery rated for about 72 hours or up to 3,600 assisted shots.

Operationally, that matters because the SMASH concept compresses the shooter’s engagement problem against a fast, erratic, low-signature drone. Instead of asking a soldier or security operator to manually lead a quadcopter crossing laterally at short range, the sight locks, tracks, and authorizes the shot only when the ballistic solution aligns with a high-probability hit window. SmartShooter says the SMASH family can engage very small drones at ranges of up to 250 meters, and company literature for the SMASH 2000 showed sample first-round hit rates of 80% on moving targets at 100 meters from unsupported standing positions, versus far lower results with a conventional red-dot sight.

That is precisely why systems like the 2000LE are increasingly attractive for domestic installation defense. Small commercial and modified first-person-view drones fly low, appear with little warning, and can force commanders to respond in seconds near flight lines, fuel farms, ammunition storage, command posts, or high-visibility urban sites. The selection of a precision rifle-based effector alongside a larger sensor and RF layer suggests JIATF 401 is trying to close the last 250 meters of the kill chain with a discriminating hard-kill option after the target has been detected and classified; that is an inference from the systems chosen and the task force’s emphasis on layered defense.

The outer layer in this contract is the Cerberus XL, a trailer-based counter-UAS suite designed for rapid deployment in austere environments. The uploaded product data describes a 360-degree quad-radar array, EO/IR payloads including HD mid-wave infrared and HD color sensors, laser rangefinding and pointing, RF detection and mitigation, AI/ML-enabled data fusion, and a Cameleon Tactical command-and-control interface able to display and manage up to 500 real-time targets. The system is sensor- and effector-agnostic, which is critical because it allows commanders to plug Cerberus into a wider defensive ecosystem instead of fielding it as a stand-alone appliance.

Its published performance figures show why it complements the SMASH layer rather than replacing it. Cerberus XL is configured to detect and track Group 1 and 2 drones, including on common RF bands such as 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, with extended options covering 433, 868, 915 MHz, and 1.2 GHz. The standard configuration is listed with RF detection ranges out to 3 kilometers horizontally and defeat ranges out to 1.5 kilometers, while the trailer can be deployed and made fully operational in under 30 minutes by a two-person team and can operate with silent battery power or an onboard generator.

This is where the contract begins to make tactical sense as a complete package rather than a shopping list. Cerberus XL can search wider airspace, classify tracks, and create a more coherent local air picture; Lattice can then fuse that data with other radars, cameras, and effectors; and the SMASH 2000LE gives security forces a mobile terminal layer that can be distributed across multiple firing points. In practical terms, that means a base-defense team is no longer depending on a single jammer, a single radar, or a single operator, but on a networked chain that can detect, hand off, and defeat.

The requirement has also been shaped by recent operational testing. In February 2026, JIATF 401 supported a National Capital Region exercise that ran dozens of simulated small-UAS incidents and tested eleven sensor systems and three mitigation devices in day and night conditions, while a separate field activity in Germany during Project Flytrap in June 2025 showed U.S. soldiers using the SMASH 2000L to practice target lock-on against nearby drones. That progression from experimentation to procurement aligns with what Army Recognition has tracked in our analysis of Project Flytrap portable counter-UAS trials, our coverage of Lattice-enabled counter-drone command networks, and our report on U.S. Army installation air-defense modernization.

The real significance of the award is that it addresses the most stubborn part of the counter-drone mission: the space between early warning and final interception. Long-range radars and electronic warfare matter, but installations are still vulnerable if no one can rapidly prosecute a validated target once it slips through or appears suddenly inside the perimeter. By pairing a deployable multi-sensor node with 210 distributed SMASH 2000LE hard-kill sights, JIATF 401 is buying not just equipment, but response time, shot discrimination, and a more scalable domestic base-defense model against the drone threat now reshaping military security from the battlefield to the homeland.

Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst.

Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.