Miles Jamison 
- Pierce Aerospace’s receivers detect and identify drones transmitting Remote ID signals
- Astrion will evaluate how ID technologies perform within integrated operational capabilities
- The companies are targeting security needs involving critical infrastructure and border operations
Astrion and Pierce Aerospace have collaborated to integrate drone identification technology into broader airspace awareness and mission architectures for government, public safety and commercial customers.
Astrion said Monday the collaboration has grown out of its recent Track 2 award on the Department of Homeland Security’s $1.5 billion counter-unmanned aircraft systems indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, on which Pierce Aerospace is a teammate.
What Will the Astrion-Perce Aerospace Partnership Provide?
The collaboration brings together Pierce Aerospace’s remote identification technology and Astrion’s mission engineering and systems integration capabilities.
Pierce Aerospace has developed passive Remote ID receivers and data services that detect, track and identify drones broadcasting Remote ID messages. That identification layer can feed command-and-control systems and common operating pictures.
Astrion contributes expertise in test and evaluation, operational deployment, threat modeling and training. The company will assess how each component performs as part of an integrated operational capability.
Together, the companies have set out to help government, public safety and commercial customers bring drone identification data into wider airspace awareness and security mission architectures. Their stated focus includes protecting critical assets, infrastructure and border operations.
The companies have described Remote ID as one part of a layered airspace security architecture that also depends on additional sensors, contextual data and operator judgment.
Conn Doherty, Astrion’s president of strategy and growth, said that “identifying potential threats is only the beginning.” He added that the harder task is delivering the right information to operators within the systems they already use.
Doherty joined Astrion in April as part of a leadership change that named former Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice as the company’s CEO and executive chair.
Aaron Pierce, CEO of Pierce Aerospace, said the partnership allows his company to tie Remote ID data to broader mission requirements and help customers build it into layered drone and counter-drone architectures.
How Does the Partnership Fit Federal Counter-UAS Efforts?
The partnership has arrived as the Federal Emergency Management Agency has made an additional $250 million available through its fiscal 2027 Counter-UAS Grant Program. The program has opened funding to all 56 states and territories and supports preparations for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
FEMA opened the first round of the grant program in October 2025, drawing on $500 million from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. DHS estimated that $250 million would be obligated in fiscal 2026.
Under the DHS contract, Astrion’s Track 2 award covers operational support for the full counter-UAS mission lifecycle.
DHS awarded spots on the counter-drone IDIQ to 12 companies in August. Astrion is one of seven Track 2 awardees, along with Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Information Technology, Parsons, BAE Systems, Leidos and Anduril Industries. The services track carries a $489 million ceiling, while Track 1, which covers hardware, software and related services, has a $1.01 billion ceiling. Orders can be placed through July 31, 2031.
The companies also pointed to the White House’s airspace security priorities and the counter-small UAS mission of Joint Interagency Task Force 401. They said these efforts show a growing need for integrated, operationally validated airspace security capabilities rather than standalone technologies.
