M-ACE (Mobile Acquisition, Cueing & Effector)

M-ACE (Mobile Acquisition, Cueing and Effector) is Northrop Grumman's fully integrated, vehicle-mounted counter-UAS platform designed to detect, track, identify, and engage small unmanned aerial systems while the host vehicle is stationary or moving at operational pace. The system mounts on a standard truck bed and raises a surveillance mast carrying a 3D radar, radio frequency sensors, and electro-optical/infrared cameras that provide continuous situational awareness out to approximately 10 km for drone-sized targets. An M230LF 30 mm remote weapon station — firing M1211 high-explosive proximity rounds at up to 625 rounds per minute — serves as the organic hard-kill effector, with engagement cueing compressed by an AI/ML-augmented command-and-control software layer (M-ACE C2) that runs an open-architecture protocol stack compatible with hundreds of third-party sensors and effectors.

M-ACE is sized for expeditionary force protection, convoy escort, and fixed-site defence where mobility matters as much as lethality. The U.S. Army has tested it against Class 1 and Class 2 UAS, and it is structured around a battery configuration of three gun trucks plus one M-ACE vehicle. For GCC operators — protecting airfield perimeters, critical national infrastructure, and large-venue events — the wheeled, self-deploying form factor means rapid reposition without specialist airlift. The open software architecture allows integration with theatre sensors already in inventory, preserving sunk-cost value and enabling a layered defence posture alongside dedicated EW jammers or directed-energy effectors as those mature.