Lockheed Martin and Verizon Demonstrate AI-Powered Counter-UAS Technology

LMT and VZ, alongside NVIDIA, Keysight Technologies, ODC and Astris AI, demonstrated a counter-UAS system that detects and tracks drones using existing commercial 5G network infrastructure rather than purpose-built radar. The demonstration, held in the Miami area, showed Lockheed Martin's NetSense Airspace Awareness-as-a-Service platform maintaining continuous drone tracking without modifications to the deployed cellular radios.

NetSense works by using AI to analyze disturbances in radio-frequency signals from 5G towers, which lets the platform infer and predict a drone's flight path and issue real-time alerts, an approach that could be materially cheaper to deploy than dedicated radar networks since it piggybacks on infrastructure Verizon already operates. Lockheed Martin has positioned the potential customer base around critical infrastructure sites, stadiums, power plants, schools, hospitals and airports, where unauthorized drone activity is a growing security concern.

Commercially, Lockheed Martin plans pilot deployments in the second half of 2026 and early 2027, with general availability targeted for 2027, offered as a subscription service that integrates with customers' existing security operations. If the pilots validate the approach, the software-and-subscription model could give Lockheed Martin a lower-capex path into the counter-drone market than legacy radar systems, while giving Verizon a new commercial use case for its existing 5G network investment. The technology's reliance on AI-driven signal inference also means its accuracy in dense urban RF environments, where false positives are more likely, will be a key factor determining how quickly it scales past pilot programs.

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