Not seen
Reduce signatures and avoid initial detection.
Layered protection for a more maneuverable force
Protection that
preserves maneuver.
Lead Element develops adaptable protection and survivability solutions for Soldiers, teams, and critical equipment operating in increasingly contested environments. Through signature management, concealment, and deception, we aim to preserve mobility and freedom of action.
Our approach01 / The protection problem
Protect before the threat arrives.
As the Army fields more drones, autonomous vehicles, sensors, and dispersed teams, the people, communications nodes, and equipment supporting them must also survive. Protection begins before an engagement: preserve maneuver and combat power through complementary effects.
Not understood
Create uncertainty and complicate identification.
Not engaged
Complicate targeting and deny effective engagement.
Survive if engaged
Increase resilience when earlier layers fail.
02 / Our approach
Layered protection.
Built for small units.
Protection is not a single device or a last-minute reaction. We are developing complementary, deployable systems using modular components, common materials, replaceable panels, and adaptable interfaces to reduce exposure while preserving mission capability.
Start with Sponson
03 / First product
Small teams.
Greater protection.
Our first product addresses dismounted reconnaissance and small UAS teams. Our mission extends beyond any single product.
Early development
Sponson
Mobile concealment.
Mission first.
We’re developing a backpackable, field-repairable multispectral hide for reconnaissance and small UAS teams—designed around rapid setup, access to equipment, and rapid displacement.
- Mobility
- Low bulk. Small-team carry.
- Function
- Observation. Airflow. Access.
- Sustainment
- Modular panels. Field repair.
These are design priorities. Performance is being investigated and validated.
Talk about your field requirements (opens in a new tab)04 / Broader protection
Beyond
small teams.
Future development directions span people, equipment, and small units. These are areas of exploration, not currently fielded products.
Dismounted teams
Mobile signature management and rapid displacement for small units.
Equipment & vehicles
Explore adaptable protective materials and modular, replaceable components for antennas, vehicles, communications nodes, and other exposed assets.
Small-unit protection
Explore complementary concealment, deception, and survivability layers for teams and small units.
05 / Company
Built from
the field.
Reconnaissance teaches you to think about what the other side sees, believes, and does next. That perspective shapes everything we build.
Katherine HathawayFounder & CEO
Katherine served for 10 years in the U.S. Army and was an Armor officer. She commanded an M1A2 Abrams tank company and a cavalry headquarters troop, and served as a tactics officer instructor for armored warfare at the Armor School at Fort Benning.
More about our founder
Her background spans cavalry reconnaissance and security, brigade planning, Atlantic Resolve, and training at the National Training Center and Joint Multinational Readiness Center.
She also brings Fortune 100/FAANG logistics and operations experience at Amazon, disaster response as a FEMA Deployment Manager, and business operations experience in the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory’s National Security Space Mission Area.
Katherine holds an MS in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University and is completing the dual MBA/MA in Design Leadership at Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Institute College of Art.
06 / Manufacturing
American-made.
From the start.
We’re developing a domestic supply and manufacturing base built around material traceability, quality control, repeatable fabrication, and repairable modular construction. Our goal is American-made protective systems that can be adapted and produced at useful scale; these capabilities are still being developed.
Connect as a materials or manufacturing partner07 / Contact
Bring us the
field problem.
Operators. Researchers. Manufacturers. Acquisition teams.
Bring us an operational problem we can prototype, test, and refine.