Leonardo Shows ‘Containerized’ Version of Falcon Shield C-UAS System

By Andrew White

Leonardo UK used the Defence Vehicles Dynamics (DVD) event at Millbrook last month to showcase the latest configuration of its operationally proven Falcon Shield counter-drone solution.

Falcon Shield was shown in a containerized version in partnership with Marshall Land Systems and promoted as a “rapidly deployable, scalable ecosystem for detecting, tracking, identifying and defeating complex drone threats,” a company statement said.

The 20-ft air-conditioned shipping container includes workstations for several operators and featured Leonardo’s HYAS C2 system and Nero EO/IR ultra-long-range surveillance and target acquisition system, as well as four agnostic radar arrays for hemispherical coverage. Similar to earlier fixed site and mobile iterations, the “Containerized Falcon Shield” can be networked to a variety of sensors and effectors including kinetic/non-kinetic effects to neutralize a drone threat.

“Containerised Falcon Shield can be transported and rapidly deployed around the world by air, land or sea – carried by military transport aircraft, moved by road or shipped – enabling customers to establish a layered C-UAS ecosystem wherever and whenever it is needed,” a company statement read.

Additional upgrades to Falcon Shield include the use of machine learning algorithms to support “long range, automatic detection, identification and tracking” of threats. “AI will suggest the lowest collateral option,” a company official told JED at the event, before adding, “We have integrated a large number of effectors into the HYAS C2 system.” The containerized Falcon Shield has yet to conduct any live demonstration in front of potential customers.

A mobile version of Falcon Shield was unveiled at DVD in 2024. It is currently in operational use with the UK’s Royal Air Force as well as Canadian Armed Forces. The RAF’s version – named “Orcus” – entered service in 2018 and has since been used extensively in the UK and overseas, including on operations and to protect major international events, a Leonardo UK official said. “Orcus was most recently deployed in response to the threat of One-Way Attack [OWA] drones,” he added.