Miles Jamison 
AeroVironment, or AV, unveiled Halo_Shield, a counter-unmanned aircraft system designed to protect critical infrastructure and deployed forces from airborne threats, at the Modern Day Marine event in Washington, D.C., the company said Tuesday.
What Is Halo_Shield?
The Halo_Shield system is built as a distributed, tile-based architecture for detecting, tracking, identifying and eliminating aerial threats such as small to large unmanned aircraft, drone swarms and subsonic cruise missiles. The platform is designed to protect critical infrastructure and deployed forces by enabling scalable, layered defense aligned with evolving homeland security priorities.
“The character of the air threat has fundamentally changed,” said Wahid Nawabi, chairman, president and CEO of AV. “Cheap, massed, and coordinated aerial systems are stressing traditional point defenses. Halo_Shield is our answer—a collaborative, modular approach that brings together the best of AV and a trusted supplier ecosystem to close those gaps,” the 2026 Wash100 Award winner added.
How Is the Halo_Shield System Structured?
The system uses a modular framework composed of domain-specific tiles, including Sentinel, Terrestrial, Nautical, Aerial and Celestial configurations. Each tile integrates sensors, effectors and command-and-control, or C2, capabilities. It draws on technologies from AeroVironment and partner systems, such as LOCUST laser weapons, Switchblade loitering munitions and Titan RF counter-UAS platforms.
How Does the Architecture Work?
Halo_Shield’s plug-and-play design allows individual tiles to operate independently or be combined to create a mission-tailored defense network. Powered by the AV_Halo software platform, the system integrates with existing C2 environments and supports rapid scaling, reconfiguration and deployment, including portable setups. This architecture enhances detection range, accelerates response timelines and enables coordinated, multi-layered defense with minimal personnel and training requirements.
