Aeon and Mountain Horse Prove Low-Cost Warhead and Fuze Package at Drone Dominance

Mountain Horse's warhead and Aeon's MERC ESAD flew together on top-performing drones. Available now and built for high-volume production.

AUSTIN, Texas and COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Aeon Industrial and Mountain Horse Solutions today announced that their integrated lethality package — a Mountain Horse warhead paired with MERC, Aeon's low-cost, high-voltage electronic safe-and-arm device (ESAD) — flew on drones from several of the top-performing companies in the recent Drone Dominance Gauntlet at Fort Carson, Colorado for one-way attack drones.

Multiple top competitors selected the Mountain Horse warhead and MERC for their Drone Dominance platforms, where the package performed reliably. Mountain Horse, a winner of the Drone Dominance Lethality Prize Challenge, supplied the warhead; Aeon supplied the fuze. MERC has been reviewed by fuze safety boards under the Drone Dominance lethality program, supports time, proximity and impact fuzing, and integrates across different drone types, from quadcopters to fixed-wing, as well as missiles and interceptors.

MERC is NDAA-compliant, available now, and priced at a fraction of the cost. It is already in volume production, delivering more than 10,000 units to U.S. programs and scaling output at Aeon's new 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Together, Aeon and Mountain Horse provide drone manufacturers with an all-in-one, flight-proven warhead and fuze package.

As the Department of War moves to increase production of drones, missiles and other affordable weapons, the supply of critical components must scale with the platforms themselves. Building more drones does not solve the problem if manufacturers cannot get the warheads and fuzes required to complete them. Aeon and Mountain Horse pair the two so drone manufacturers can integrate a complete, flight-proven lethality package at the needed scale.

"Drone manufacturers are being asked to scale faster than their component suppliers can follow, and the lethality package has to scale with them," said Chris "Gus" Jennings, Director of Growth at Aeon. "Pairing MERC with Mountain Horse's warhead gives manufacturers a proven, lethal combination. MERC is NDAA-compliant, available now, and being produced at volume. Any manufacturer that needs a fuze can get one from us today."

"Drone manufacturers need lethality solutions that are proven, straightforward to integrate and available at the quantities their programs require," said Cameron Acorn, Program Manager sUAS Lethality at Mountain Horse Solutions. "Pairing our warhead with Aeon's fuze gives customers a complete package that has already flown together on leading platforms at Drone Dominance and is ready to support large production programs."

As a vertically integrated company, Aeon supplies rocket motors, fuzes and other critical subsystems to drone and missile manufacturers. Mountain Horse provides warheads and integrated lethality solutions for unmanned systems and other defense applications. By making these capabilities available to industry, the companies are helping remove critical supply constraints that stand in the way of affordable mass.

About Aeon Industrial
Aeon Industrial is a vertically integrated defense manufacturer developing and producing advanced strike systems and critical subsystems at industrial scale. From its 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, Aeon brings weapon design and production under one roof, including propulsion, fuzing, autonomy and other critical subsystems. Led by former special operators, senior government officials and experienced aerospace and defense engineers, Aeon is a trusted partner to U.S. government customers and industry.
www.aeonindustrial.com

About Mountain Horse Solutions
Mountain Horse Solutions provides warheads, unmanned systems and integrated defense solutions to U.S. and allied customers. A winner of the Drone Dominance Lethality Prize Challenge, Mountain Horse develops modular lethality solutions designed for rapid integration across unmanned and autonomous platforms.

Aeon: Wes Shover, [email protected]

SOURCE Aeon Industrial