Leidos Wins $10 Million Air Force Medusa Counter-Drone Support Contract

Leidos Inc. of Reston, Virginia, has received a sole-source Air Force contract worth up to $9.9 million to continue engineering and integration support for the Medusa counter-small unmanned aircraft system of systems. The work is intended to support Medusa’s continued evolution under the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Force Protection Division. It will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama; Reston, Virginia; Newport, Rhode Island; and Concord, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 29, 2027.

Medusa Engineering and Integration Details

Leidos will provide continued engineering support for Medusa, which brings multiple components together to detect, identify, track and defeat small drones. A draft Air Force performance work statement for broader counter-drone support describes a system-of-systems architecture in which command-and-control software connects sensors, defeat capabilities and operator displays. That document describes a wider prospective requirement, rather than the specific scope of Leidos’ new award.

The draft identifies several areas relevant to Medusa’s evolution, including engineering for sensors and command-and-control software, cybersecurity and software updates, and testing of new components. It specifically calls for support integrating new hard-kill systems into Medusa, including system tests, live-fire test planning, site surveys and initial installation. The award notice characterizes Leidos’ work more narrowly as continued engineering and integration support; it does not assign those draft tasks individually to this contract.

Medusa Program Background

Medusa is part of the Air Force’s effort to defend bases and other assets against small drones. In congressional testimony associated with the service’s fiscal 2024 budget, Air Force leadership identified Medusa as a counter-small-drone program of record and reported 17 Medusa sites at the time. More recently, the Air Force reported in June 2025 that Joint Base Charleston had deployed “Medusa Next Gen,” using radar, thermal imaging and cameras to monitor its airspace. Those reports describe the program’s fielded role, but do not tie that deployment to the new Leidos award.

Award and Contractor Background

The Air Force made the award without a competition. It is structured as a cost-plus-fixed-fee, time-and-materials and cost-reimbursable contract. Separately, the Force Protection Division issued an October 2025 market-research notice concerning broader counter-small-drone integration, development, training and sustainment services. The associated draft work statement contemplated fielding support at up to 53 U.S. and overseas Air Force sites—substantially broader work than the engineering and integration services described in this award notice.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under FA238126CB001 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.