Airsight, the company behind the AirGuard airspace security platform, today announced a strategic partnership with Strategic Communications, a certified Woman- and Minority-Owned Small Business (WOSB & MBE) and a specialist in public-sector technology procurement. The partnership makes AirGuard’s drone detection and pilot-location capabilities available to state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies through compliant procurement channels built for the public-safety community — positioning both companies ahead of the next round of federal Counter-UAS (C-UAS) grant funding.
Why It Matters Now
Federal money for counter-drone capability is arriving on an aggressive timeline. In December 2025, FEMA awarded the first $250 million of its Counter-UAS Grant Program to 11 World Cup host states and the National Capital Region. A second round of more than $250 million is expected to open to all 56 states and territories, with the next funding notice anticipated as early as October 2026.
The agencies that will receive that funding — law enforcement, corrections, emergency management, and other public-safety operators — cannot simply buy on the open market. FEMA grant dollars carry strict federal procurement rules (2 C.F.R. §§ 200.318–200.327), and a purchase made the wrong way can jeopardize the funding itself. Agencies meet those requirements by buying through compliant cooperative and government contract vehicles that have already cleared the competition, compliance, and pricing hurdles. An agency with grant dollars in hand but no clear, compliant path loses weeks or months to the buying process alone — or risks the award. The Airsight–Strategic Communications partnership closes that gap before the funding window opens.
What the Partnership Delivers
The agreement positions AirGuard within Strategic Communications’ public-safety procurement programs and go-to-market motion, delivering three advantages to public-sector buyers:
1. A Procurement Program Built for Public Safety
Strategic Communications runs JPS TRUST (Justice & Public Safety Technology Resources for Unifying Strategies & Tactics) — a program designed specifically to help law enforcement, corrections, and emergency-management agencies evaluate, source, and modernize their technology. That public-safety focus maps directly onto the agencies eligible for C-UAS grant funding, so AirGuard reaches buyers through a channel built for exactly how they operate and procure.
2. A Compliant, Grant-Ready Contract Vehicle
Through the NASPO ValuePoint cooperative purchasing program — the state-led cooperative built for state and local government — eligible agencies can acquire AirGuard through a vehicle that already satisfies the federal procurement standards FEMA grants require. As a certified Woman- and Minority-Owned Small Business (WOSB & MBE), Strategic Communications also helps agencies meet the small-business participation goals that strengthen a federal grant application.
3. A Partner Who Works With End Users, Not Just a Passthrough
Strategic Communications is not a transactional reseller. The company works directly with end users across state and local government and the justice and public-safety community — the same sectors AirGuard protects. Beyond procurement access, the two companies will work together to position airspace security with Strategic Communications’ existing public-sector customer base ahead of the next C-UAS grant cycle — helping agencies scope, justify, and acquire detection capability while federal cost-sharing is available.
Executive Commentary
“The hardest part of getting counter-drone capability into the field has never been the technology — it’s the path to acquiring it,” said Robert Tabbara, Founder and CEO of Airsight. “Agencies are about to have grant dollars for C-UAS, but those dollars come with strict procurement rules, and a misstep can put the funding at risk. Strategic Communications lives in the public-safety procurement world every day, and their cooperative vehicles are built for exactly these buyers. Putting AirGuard in front of agencies through that channel means they can go from funded to protected — the right way — without the friction that usually sits in between.”
