U.S. Army, Allies and Partners to Expand Drone and Counter-Drone Marketplaces at Eurosatory Defense Exhibition

Washington - Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will join senior defense representatives from allied and partner nations at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris on June 16 to sign a joint statement of intent expanding the Army's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Counter-UAS (C-UAS) Marketplaces - the connected marketplaces through which allies and partners procure both drones and the systems that defeat them.

Current marketplace partners will deepen their commitments, and additional nations will join for the first time, marking the largest single expansion of the marketplace since its establishment.

The C-UAS Marketplace, managed by Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401), grants allies and partners access to counter-drone capabilities that have been proven on today's battlefields, including low-collateral interceptors, radars, sensors, electronic warfare systems, and low-tech passive defense measures, including physical barriers. Historically, each nation has run its own counter-drone acquisition pipeline where timelines are measured in years while drone threats evolve weekly.

The Army's marketplace inverts that model: by aggregating allied demand and holding every system to common data standards, it allows each participating nation to identify, procure, and field a common and credible solution at the pace of modern war.

"The proliferation of drones changed warfare faster than any of our institutions were built to move, and the gap between how fast the threat evolves and how fast we field is measured in soldiers' lives," said Driscoll. "Closing that gap is not something any one nation does alone. That is what this marketplace is for, and that is what the nations signing in Paris have chosen."

The signing builds on agreements concluded over the past year with the United Kingdom, Romania, Australia, Poland, and the Republic of Korea. It began with the March 2026 joint declaration between the United States and the United Kingdom establishing common C-UAS data standards that are now an entry requirement for every system in the marketplace. The Army's goal is to expand marketplace access to 25 allied and partner nations by the end of summer 2026.

"President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have been clear: speed and scale win," said Driscoll. "A marketplace like this sustains the demand that keeps our defense industrial base warm - so that if the day comes when we need capability fast and in volume, the capacity is already there. You cannot build it after you need it."

While the marketplace directly strengthens the defenses of participating nations, it also benefits industry on both sides of the Atlantic. Common standards and aggregated demand lower the barriers for new entrants, increase competition, and give proven systems a path to scale across the coalition-ensuring no single nation or company bears the burden of countering the drone threat alone.

"C-UAS is both a warfighting and homeland defense imperative," said Brig. Gen. Ross, director of JIATF-401. "We are moving at the speed of relevance by cutting through red tape, consolidating resources, and establishing a robust 2-way c-UAS marketplace. The JIATF-401 marketplace helps aggregate that demand, ensuring our defense industrial base is ready to scale production to give our warfighters, allies, and partners direct access to proven counter-drone technologies."

Streamlined access to vetted and proven technologies helps NATO members translate recent commitments to increase defense expenditures into real capabilities for protecting their forces against persistent unmanned threats. Recent exercises in Europe, such as Project Flytrap and NATO Land Command's Task Force-X, have demonstrated the requirement for such systems to employ the Alliance's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative.

The signing ceremony will be held June 16 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. CET at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Pavilion at Eurosatory, Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre.

The event will include remarks by Secretary Driscoll and Honorable Brent Ingraham, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, followed by the signing and statements to the press. The event is open to credentialed media holding a valid Eurosatory media badge.