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The next counter-drone weapon on the battlefield may not arrive as a new missile or multi-million-dollar electric warfare device on wheels. It may already be strapped to a soldier’s chest.

L3Harris Technologies says it has developed a software upgrade that can turn its widely fielded tactical radios into a distributed electronic-warfare network against small drones. The system, called Wraith Shield, is designed to detect, classify, and disrupt the radio links used by hostile unmanned aircraft, especially the cheap first-person-view (FPV) drones that have transformed the war in Ukraine.

Soldiers already carry the radios and the battlefield of the future is expected to be saturated with swarms of drones. Instead of adding more hardware to overloaded infantry, L3Harris wants to turn existing communications gear into a personal counter-drone shield.

A Radio Becomes a Sensor

Wraith Shield builds on L3Harris’s existing Wraith waveform, a communications system developed in 2022 and 2023 with extensive input from Ukraine, according to Breaking Defense.

Wraith-capable radios already scan the electromagnetic environment to find friendly radios, form local networks, and maintain communications under electronic attack.

The new software adds another job. It allows those same radios to identify signals used to control enemy drones, share that data with nearby radios, and coordinate jamming against the hostile control channel.

In practice, that means a group of soldiers carrying Falcon IV or RF-9820S radios could create a local electronic bubble around themselves. If the system breaks the link between the drone and its operator, the drone’s response depends on its programming. It may return home, lose control, circle, or crash.

“At the cost of a software upgrade . . . single-digit thousands of dollars . . . you can add this capability to a radio they’re already carrying,” said Chris Aebli, president of Mission Critical Communications at L3Harris. “[It’s] their own protection bubble for counter-UAS.”

Armies face a grim economic problem in Ukraine: low-cost drones can destroy tanks, artillery, trucks, and troops, while many traditional defenses cost far more than the drones they intercept. The United States was faced with the same problem in Iran. For example, interceptors, like the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement, can cost between $3 million and $4 million, but they were reportedly used to shoot down Iranian-made Shahed drones that cost just $4,000 in Operation Epic Fury.

Granted, Shaheds are different from the small FPV-drones that this software upgrade is supposed to counter, but the point stands. You don’t bring a rocket to a fight where a slingshot will do.

Ukraine Changed the Math

FPV drones, often adapted from commercial off-the-shelf parts, can hunt vehicles, strike trenches, and loiter near supply routes. They’re essentially the world’s cheapest precision munition and their effect so far on the battlefield has been devastating. Ukraine currently produces up to 4 million drones annually, scaling toward a production capacity of over 5 million FPV units per year.

FPVs have forced armies to rethink camouflage, mobility, electronic warfare, air defense, and even basic infantry tactics.

Instead of treating counter-drone defense as a specialist mission handled only by dedicated systems, Wraith Shield pushes sensing and electronic attack down to the soldier level.

“It brings sensors to the front line and the tactical edge, because the soldiers already have the body-worn communications systems,” Tom Sheehan, L3Harris product management lead, said in the company announcement.

“Further, the frequency bands are very important. The RF-9820S supports operation in the same frequency bands commonly used by most attritable FPV drones. The soldiers who would benefit most from Wraith Shield already carry the equipment needed to use it.”

That overlap in frequency bands is the technical hinge. If the radio can operate in the same part of the spectrum used by many FPV drone command links, it can do more than communicate. It can listen and then interfere.

L3Harris says the current version can coordinate simultaneous jamming from 40 Falcon radios, enough for roughly an infantry platoon. Engineers are working toward 100 radios in a future update, according to Breaking Defense.

The AI Layer

The system also relies on DataShapes AI, whose GlobalEdge platform processes radio-frequency data at the tactical edge. In plain English, it helps turn a confusing wash of signals into a display soldiers can understand without sending the data back to a distant cloud server. Essentially, soldiers should be able to see an approaching enemy drone on their phone or tablet in a map-like interface.

“This capability closes the gap between sensing and action in a way that directly impacts survivability on the battlefield,” DataShapes AI President Paul Craft said. “By delivering clear, real-time visibility of the electromagnetic environment to the tactical edge, we are giving warfighters the situational awareness . . . they need to see-sense-shoot and outpace adversaries in increasingly complex and contested environments.”

L3Harris Product Management Director Rob Mariuz described Wraith Shield as part of a broader defensive web rather than a lone answer to the drone problem. “Our new Wraith Shield capability has been designed to seamlessly integrate with and enhance existing air defense systems by adding thousands of distributed sensors,” he said.

Not a Silver Bullet

L3Harris is careful not to present Wraith Shield as a cure-all. The system targets radio-controlled drones, especially smaller FPV-style systems using vulnerable commercial links. It will not solve every drone threat.

Some drones may use hardened links, autonomous navigation, pre-programmed routes, fiber-optic control, or other methods that make jamming harder or downright impossible. Electronic attack can also create its own problems: it must avoid disrupting friendly communications, revealing friendly positions, or interfering with other systems.

That is why Wraith Shield fits into a layered defense. L3Harris points to larger systems such as VAMPIRE and Drone Guardian for other counter-UAS missions, including higher-end threats that require stronger electronic effects or kinetic defeat.

Still, the value proposition is undeniable. The modern infantry platoon cannot wait for perfect air defense coverage every time a drone appears overhead. It needs cheap, local, immediate protection.

The first deployment platform is the RF-9820S Compact Team Radio, also known as the AN/PRC-171, with an embedded version for the RF-9820S-ER scheduled later in 2026. L3Harris also plans to offer the capability for other Wraith-capable radios, including the AN/PRC-158C, AN/PRC-163, and AN/PRC-167.

More than 100,000 compatible radios are already fielded among U.S., NATO, Five Eyes, and allied militaries, according to company figures.

Aebli told Breaking Defense the capability is “ready to be delivered,” though international sales still require U.S. export approval. No formal order has been announced, but he said there is “a tremendous amount of interest, both internationally and domestically, [and] there’s a handful of customers that are ready to buy it … shortly.”

The battlefield lesson from Ukraine has been brutal: the side that adapts faster survives longer and ultimately wins the war of attrition. The trusty radio no longer just connects the soldier to the fight. It may help keep the drone away long enough for the soldier to stay in it.