The U.S. Army has awarded SRC Inc. of Cicero, New York, a $22 million contract for technology that counters small, low-flying drones on the battlefield.

The contract extends by six months a previous Army agreement with SRC for its counter-drone technology worth $108 million.

SRC’s mobile systems use radar, cameras, jamming technology and other sensors to help the Army detect, track, identify and defeat hostile drones.

The Pentagon considers small, slow and low-flying drones an emerging threat to U.S. forces around the world because they are difficult to detect and can evade radar.

An Army assessment found that more than 600 types of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, were in use in more than 80 countries. The Islamic State also used small, low-flying drones in battles with U.S.-allied forces in Iraq and Syria.

SRC, a not-for-profit research and development company, has sold its counter-drone systems to the Army and Air Force since 2017.

The Cicero-based company announced plans in 2017 to double its workforce over five years by hiring about 1,000 new employees for its offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

SRC reached an agreement last year to buy a fifth office building at   Beacon North Office Park in Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, to house its growing workforce.

Based in New York, SRC, Inc. is a not-for-profit research and development company, combines information, science, technology and ingenuity to solve “impossible” problems in the areas of defense, environment and intelligence.

Across a family of companies, SRC applies bright minds, fresh thinking and relentless determination to deliver innovative products and services that are redefining possible^® for the challenges faced by America and its allies.

Since 1957, SRC’s commitment to the customer and the best solution – not the bottom line – has remained a core value that guides its efforts. This passion for quality carries through to the technologies the company invents and manufactures, the laboratories and facilities it builds, the people they hire, and communities where they work.

An SRC spokeswoman said the company now employs about 1,100 people in Central New York and 1,600 worldwide.