Recent conflicts have made this clear. In Ukraine, fixed radar sites and air defense nodes were targeted early in the war. Pattern-of-life analysis, drone reconnaissance, and emissions tracking exposed sensors that had taken years to field. The lesson is simple: a known sensor is a vulnerable sensor. Ukraine’s response revealed the countermeasure. By distributing and networking thousands of small, low-cost Leonardo DRS RADA Technologies radars to create an integrated and resilient mosaic air defense picture, paired with systems like NASAMS and Patriot, Ukrainian forces forced adversary planners to solve a continuously moving problem. When individual systems were struck, the network absorbed the loss. Sensor handoffs helped maintain track custody, allied data links sustained the air picture, and reconstituted nodes returned to coverage quickly. Distribution did not eliminate vulnerability. It neutralized the decisive value of any single strike.

In the Israel–Gaza theater—and most dramatically during Iran’s April 2024 mass attack—a different architectural lesson emerged. Israel’s layered air defense network integrates Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow through a common and networked sensing layer composed of hundreds of small, low cost DRS RADA radars and an integrated battle management architecture. When one radar or intercept layer was saturated, adjacent nodes could pick up track custody without collapsing the air picture. Hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones were detected, prioritized, and engaged across multiple layers, with the vast majority defeated. The outcome was not the product of any single system. It was the product of a networked, redundant sensing and command architecture that denied the adversary a decisive gap. Across the region, lower-cost threats continue to attrit high-value platforms. One drone, one munition, or one uncovered corridor can shift the local balance unless the network is designed to close gaps automatically. The issue is structural. Many defense architectures have prioritized singular excellence: large, exquisite, and often irreplaceable nodes. Once located, these hard-to-hide systems attract adversary fires. The era of the “golden sensor” is ending.

The CVRT framework—Criticality, Vulnerability, Recuperability, and Threat—offers a useful diagnostic lens. Applied to legacy sensing systems, the results are uncomfortable: high criticality, high vulnerability, low recuperability, and a broad threat set. Effective architectures must distribute capability, reduce signatures, and prioritize recovery. Recuperability is not a secondary concern. It is a competitive advantage.

Owning the edge demands a layered network of distributed sensing. Compact radars, passive RF detection, electro-optical and infrared systems, and autonomous forward assets must sustain coverage and track custody even when individual nodes are disrupted. Distribution complicates adversary targeting: they must locate and suppress many systems rather than execute a single decisive strike.

This shift also changes where decisions are made. In contested environments, centralized control becomes a vulnerability. Tactical units require organic sensing and the authority to act at the edge. AI-enabled threat discrimination, autonomous cueing, and resilient communications must operate at the node level under commander’s intent, even with intermittent connectivity.

The required building blocks already exist: compact, software-defined, multi-mission AESA radars; communications gateways that bridge waveforms and echelons; autonomous systems that extend sensing without increasing exposure; and onboard processing that enables local exploitation without constant reach back. Technology is necessary—but it is not sufficient. The harder challenge is design and execution: concepts of employment, integration, sustainment, and training that assume attrition and disruption.

The choice is straightforward: Integrate edge-focused assumptions into operational design. Use CVRT analysis to identify and eliminate single points of failure. Fund prototypes that prove track custody continuity under loss, and resource rapid reconstitution as a requirement, not an afterthought. High ground has always been decisive. Today, it exists at the edge of sensing, decision, and action. The force that seizes and holds that ground will define the fight. The application of lower cost mobile and networked sensors provide combat proven resilience and will enable our forces to Own The Edge.

For more than fifty-five years, Leonardo DRS has built a reputation of technology leadership and innovation across every domain, including space. What began as a two-engineer effort in advanced signal processing has grown into one of the most consequential defense technology companies in the United States. From the earliest days of national space programs, DRS has delivered mission payloads, sensors, components, and enabling technologies that have supported United States civil and military space operations for generations.

Our legacy in space is long, proven, and operational. DRS sensors and payloads aboard the GOES spacecraft have provided near real time weather data for both defense and civil missions for decades, supporting everything from missile warning readiness to disaster response. Today, that heritage accelerates with new capabilities built for a contested space environment. Our recent first on orbit test of the eXtended Crypto Module 3 Space (XCM3), a multichannel software defined radio with integrated advanced cryptography, establishes a new benchmark for secure satellite data transport at the tactical edge. In parallel, our next generation TRKT3 MW MT Mission Payload for the Space Development Agency (SDA) Tracking Layer Tranche 3 reinforces our role as a critical provider of advanced space-based sensing and missile warning capabilities for the joint force.

Across every domain, Leonardo DRS remains committed to open architecture principles. We proudly support the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) and serve as a Principal Member of the SOSA Consortium. This is not compliance for its own sake. MOSA is a strategic philosophy grounded in the recognition that no single company can own every solution the warfighter will ever require. Open standards enable adaptability, rapid modernization, and the ability to insert the best available capability today while preserving the freedom to evolve tomorrow.

That adaptability extends to how we build. Leonardo DRS relies upon a nationwide industrial footprint and more than 7,000 America team members committed to providing our armed forces with overmatch capabilities. We rapidly design, manufacture, and deliver integrated technologies that advance next generation space, air and missile defense capabilities across all domains, from concept through production and sustainment. We continue to expand our facilities and broaden our supplier network to deliver accelerated production and increased surge capacity.

Looking forward, the most challenging and important work ahead lies at the intersection of our domains, especially space. The technologies and capabilities of Leonardo DRS, accessible via MDA’s SHIELD[i] , will leverage the deep experience across ground, sea, air, space, and missile defense efforts, with a focus on speed, integration, and scalability. Space based sensing, secure data transport, and resilient architectures are now inseparable from homeland defense. With solutions on nearly every military platform and a large installed base, DRS is positioned to accelerate the transition toward a more autonomous and space-enabled future, one built on advanced sensing and AI-enabled computing systems that reduce the cognitive burden on commanders and enable better, and faster, decision-making.

The Golden Dome vision is urgent and achievable. The threat demands it. Leonardo DRS stands ready to play an important role in providing the advanced technologies and capabilities that will enable our forces to Own The Edge.

[1] The MDA SHIELD (Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense) is the Missile Defense Agency’s system-of-systems framework for layered homeland missile defense, executed through multiple IDIQ contracts and task orders.

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In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Borsellino encourages screening for early detection. “Early detection increases the chances that breast cancer can be treated and cured,” she says. It all starts with prevention and awareness of your personal risk and need for screening for early detection. Women who are at average risk of breast cancer should have screening mammograms every year starting at age 40. Please speak with your health care provider to determine your personal risk.

In addition to breast screening activities and outreach activities available at MCC, HJF for the past several years has partnered with Leonardo DRS to support breast cancer research through the “Stick It 2 Cancer” initiative. Donations will support MCC’s “Look Good, Feel Better” program that helps breast cancer patients take action to deal with appearance issues related to their breast cancer treatment.

If you would like to support breast cancer, please donate here.