- AimLock is an aided target recognition technology company founded in 2013.
- Its targeting systems have been applied to everything from rifles to rockets and various drones.
- CEO Bryan Bockman discussed AimLock’s efforts in the counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems sector during SOF Week 2025 with BI.
Aiding soldiers equipped with firearms,
drones
, mounted machine guns, and even grenade and rocket launchers identify and lock onto targets more easily — that’s the basic mission of US company AimLock, which has been developing automated targeting products for over a decade.
During SOF Week 2025, the firm’s CEO, Bryan Bockmon, spoke with Business Insider regarding their current emphasis on
autonomous weapons systems
that may be crucial for future warfare, systems made for defeating drones. Countering drones is an expanding area of research and development, with a lot of work being done in Ukraine, though that isn’t the only country where this technology is being developed.
The
Ukraine war
has shown that electronic warfare like signal jamming and
GPS spoofing
can be effective when it comes to defeating enemy drones, but having a kinetic option, the ability to shoot it, as a last resort for destroying those systems is essential should other options fail.
And they may fail because some drones, like the
fiber-optic drones
growing more frequent in Ukraine or
AI-enabled systems
For example, they are resilient against electronic warfare.
“If that fails,” Bockmon suggested.
electronic warfare
Then comes the final protective barrier.
Defeating drones
AimLock’s autonomous counter-drone systems are made to detect classify, and track uncrewed aerial systems and then decide on the best firing solution for taking them out.
One of the AimLock counter-UAS systems was on display at SOF Week in Tampa, Florida. Bockmon said that the system was invulnerable to signal jamming and other elements of electronic warfare because it relies on visual navigation and autonomous terminal guidance.
The CEO explained that they create tailored autonomous systems for integrating weaponry,” adding that these systems handle target detection, aiming, tracking, as well as engaging which involves firing upon identified targets.
What makes AimLock’s development approach interesting is that “instead of making specialized systems that then have to be reinvented 10 times over to cover the entire mission need,” Bockmon said, it makes “generalized modules that can be adapted across 10 different missions.”
If the warfighter requires a new sensor or weapons system, AimLock can provide a compatible solution. This approach cuts down the development time, as mentioned by the CEO, which also decreases expenses and streamlines the procedure.
The company’s Core Targeting Module, known as CTM, lies at the core of AimLock’s systems. This module integrates
autonomy
And enhancing aiming and targeting mechanisms to boost the velocity and accuracy of weaponry ranging from firearms to unmanned systems.
The CTM hardware is, in some cases, just a small black box with a few plug-in outlets on top.
Bockmon said the modularity of it and other weapons systems AimLock makes allows it “to offer new solutions that can adapt at the pace of combat,” whether that is a low-intensity fight or a high-intensity
great power conflict
in remote or contested environments with limited communications.
While the company has been working to refine all of this for years, its current focus is its counter-drone systems.
The significance of counter-drone tech has steadily increased over the years due to advancements in areas like electronic warfare, laser weapons, and others designed to neutralize unmanned systems. This emphasis becomes even more crucial as drones—particularly smaller, less expensive models—are proliferating rapidly. Last year, the Pentagon introduced a fresh counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) plan to tackle these challenges; however, considerable efforts are still required to effectively confront this evolving danger.
As Bockmon told BI, we completed our initial counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology in 2018,” he stated, “but these systems remained unused for quite some time as we were focused on assessing their effectiveness.
electronic warfare
In the future, things might get defeated swiftly, even though at first it was uncertain just how impactful electronic warfare would prove to be. Now, however, it’s evident that such tactics aren’t invincible.
The
counter-drone mission
The issue of combating enemy drones was a major focus during SOF Week 2025. Numerous representatives from the defense sector and key figures in special operations discussed the increasing necessity for multiple approaches to neutralize these threats. The Pentagon has prioritized establishing a comprehensive military strategy aimed at defeating drone attacks as an urgent objective.
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