L3Harris Wraith Waveform Puts Skydio X10D on an Anti-Jam Network That Hunts Drones

L3Harris Technologies and Skydio Inc. have integrated L3Harris’ Wraith waveform and Falcon IV embeddable radios with Skydio’s X10D small unmanned aircraft system, giving the drone layered anti-jam protection for its command-and-control link along with an electronic warfare capability, L3Harris announced on October 15, 2026. The pairing plugs a U.S. Army platoon-level reconnaissance drone into the tactical radio network carried by U.S. and allied ground forces.

The datalink has become the weakest point of the small drone, and L3Harris developed Wraith in 2022 and 2023 with substantial operational input from Ukrainian users. The Skydio announcement follows two related moves. In March 2026, the Army ordered more than 2,500 X10D systems in a deal worth more than $52 million, and on May 13, 2026, L3Harris unveiled Wraith Shield, a software upgrade that converts Wraith-capable radios into counter-drone sensors and jammers.

How the Wraith Waveform Secures the Skydio X10D Datalink

Wraith is a wideband, fast frequency-hopping Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) waveform built to carry voice, data and position location information (PLI) through contested and congested spectrum. It is self-healing, meaning nodes reroute traffic automatically when a link drops, and L3Harris product literature states that a Wraith network can support up to 140 nodes. The waveform is exportable to NATO and allied users.

According to L3Harris, the companies leveraged their respective open-system architectures to integrate Falcon IV embeddable radios hosting Wraith with the X10D. Neither company has identified the specific radio model. L3Harris’ Falcon IV embeddable line includes the single-channel RF-9820S-ER, which the company markets for MANET control of Group 1 and larger UAVs, but its use on the X10D has not been confirmed.

The operational effect is that the drone stops operating on a separate, proprietary link and becomes another node on the unit’s own tactical network. Video, telemetry and PLI move over the same hardened waveform that infantry already use for voice and data and denies an adversary the easier target of a commercial control frequency. L3Harris states that more than 150,000 fielded tactical radios in U.S. and allied inventories can host Wraith, giving the X10D a large pool of network peers without new ground hardware.

Skydio X10D Specifications and Its Short Range Reconnaissance Role

The X10D is a folding quadcopter weighing 2.11 kilograms (4.65 pounds) with battery and a maximum takeoff weight of 2.49 kilograms (5.49 pounds), according to publicly available manufacturer specifications. It offers a maximum flight time of 40 minutes, 35 minutes in hover, a top horizontal speed of 20 meters per second (45 mph) and a service ceiling of 15,000 feet density altitude. The airframe carries an IP55 rating against dust and water, and Skydio quotes a deployment time of under 40 seconds.

Sensor packages pair a 64-megapixel narrow camera with a 640 by 512 Teledyne FLIR Boson+ radiometric thermal imager. Six 32-megapixel navigation cameras provide 360-degree visual navigation and obstacle avoidance, enabling autonomous flight in GPS-denied conditions and at night. Skydio’s native Connect radio, quoted at up to 12 kilometers line of sight without interference in its Connect SL version, remains the baseline datalink. The aircraft is Blue UAS cleared and compliant with the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Architecture (RAS-A) and the open MAVLink protocol.

Those features explain the Army’s interest. Under the Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program, the X10D follows the Skydio X2D, designated RQ-28A, which was fielded from 2022 under SRR Tranche 1; the Army now procures the X10D under SRR Tranche 2. Initial X10D fielding began in April 2025 under an urgent operational request, and the system now equips Transformation in Contact units with organic reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition at platoon level. Onboard visual autonomy already mitigates GNSS denial; Wraith addresses the remaining exposure, the link back to the operator.

Wraith Shield Adds Counter-UAS Effects to the Radio Network

L3Harris says the addition of Wraith Shield allows the same radios to scan the spectrum, detect threats and neutralize adversary drones. Developed with DataShapes AI, Wraith Shield is a software upgrade that requires no new hardware. It uses the radio’s existing antenna to identify drone command signals, classify them and jam hostile links. L3Harris first targeted the AN/PRC-171, with the AN/PRC-158C, AN/PRC-163 and AN/PRC-167 to follow. The current version can coordinate jamming across 40 radios simultaneously, roughly a platoon’s worth, with a goal of 100 in a later release.

Wraith Shield is positioned within a layered counter-UAS architecture, engaging small drones while systems such as VAMPIRE and Drone Guardian handle larger threats. Faisal Munir, president of Mission Critical Communications in L3Harris’ Communications and Spectrum Dominance segment, said the partnership lets warfighters “continue to communicate, fly UAS assets and affect threats in electronic warfare-constrained environments.” The companies have not said whether Wraith Shield functions will run on the radio embedded in the X10D itself, which would turn the drone into an airborne RF sensor, or only on ground radios.

Analysis: The more consequential aspect of this integration is not anti-jam performance in isolation but deconfliction. A unit that jams hostile drones from its own radios needs a reliable way to avoid jamming its own reconnaissance assets. A drone riding the same Wraith network that the radios already recognize as friendly is, in principle, easier to protect from fratricide than one flying on a separate commercial link, although neither company has published how Wraith Shield discriminates friendly UAS traffic. The arrangement also extends L3Harris’ installed radio base into the drone layer. The trade-off is signature: every node that transmits, and especially every node that jams, is an emitter an adversary can locate.

Key details remain undisclosed. L3Harris has not announced a contract, a customer order or a fielding date for Wraith-equipped X10D aircraft, nor published link range or latency figures compared with the native Skydio radio. Whether the Army adopts the configuration within the SRR program, and when Wraith Shield moves from the AN/PRC-171 to the wider Falcon IV fleet, are the next decision points to watch.