# Department of War Awards Hidden Level $100 Million OTA to Scale Passive Sensing Technology
*Published: July 30, 2026*
The Department of War today awarded Hidden Level, a Veteran Ventures Capital Fund I portfolio company and world leader in passive radar, radio frequency (RF) detection, and distributed sensing for airspace and spectrum awareness, a $100M Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract to deliver cutting-edge capabilities in the counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) fight.

The award supports the Department of War's effort to field next-generation passive sensing capabilities to counter evolving and escalating UAS threats. The contract follows Hidden Level's performance during recent U.S. Government-led operational evaluations, including T-REX 25.2 and Falcon Peak 25.2. The OTA provides a rapid acquisition pathway for U.S. military organizations to prototype, procure, and deploy Hidden Level technology in the fight against UAS.

"This award is an important step to delivering our critically needed technology to see without being seen," said Jeff Cole, Founder and CEO of Hidden Level. "It represents years of performance in operational environments and the Department's commitment to deploy C-UAS solutions for the warfighter. Hidden Level is ready to meet the moment with our proven sensing technology that enables the detection, tracking and identification of escalating drone threats, especially from RF-silent drones. We are scaling production and ready to support national security at speed."

"Hidden Level's passive radar distinguished itself as a top-performing sensing capability at Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX 25.2)," said Dr. Mike Tran, Director of Prototyping, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Prototyping and Experimentation (ODASW(P&E)). "This OTA award gives us an important mechanism to keep maturing, evaluating, and transitioning advanced sensing into operational use. The technology addresses real operational needs across the Department and reflects the kind of innovation we need to get mission-relevant capability to the warfighter faster."

Hidden Level was awarded the OTA to directly and rapidly provide its hardware, software, and Airspace Monitoring Service (AMS) across the Department. The award comes at a time when the need for cost-effective, real-time, and long-range passive sensing has accelerated due to the proliferation of increasingly sophisticated UAS threats across the world. The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)), through the Army Contracting Command, Rock Island (ACC-RI), issued the OTA following Hidden Level's successful operational performance across multiple testing and evaluation events, including being named 'Top Performer' through the Defense Innovation Unit's (DIU) Low-Cost Sensing Challenge.

**Sources:** [Tectonic Defense](https://www.tectonicdefense.com/blog/hidden-level-100m-ota-contract-low-altitude-sensing).
URL: https://veteranventures.us/news/department-of-war-awards-hidden-level-100-million-ota