US Task Force Selects Military Sites For Counter-Drone Systems
By Sentry
The United States Department of War’s (DOW) Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) 401 has chosen five installations to receive directed-energy weapons to counter illegal unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flights. The weapons comprise a pilot program aimed at accelerating the fielding and evaluation of advanced directed energy capabilities. Announced in May 2026, the locations will support rigorous testing and operational assessments across diverse environments and mission sets, according to a DOW news release.
Installations to receive the counter-UAS systems include Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Bliss, Texas; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The locations were deliberately selected to support rigorous testing and operational assessments across diverse environments and mission sets, according to the news release.
In recent years, authorities have detected hundreds of drone incursions over U.S. military installations. In March 2026, U.S. Northern Command reported a counter-UAS “flyaway kit” used its jamming protocol to mitigate drones flying over a Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine. U.S. bases in Germany, the United Kingdom and other stateside locations have also reported incursions. JIATF 401, DOW’s lead organization to counter UAS, was formed in 2025 to synchronize counter-UAS efforts across the military, rapidly delivering joint capabilities at scale to defend the homeland, protect U.S. and allied forces, defend critical infrastructure and assist federal agencies. In May 2026, the task force participated in exercise Project Flytrap for the first time, applying its testing and evaluation standards to more than 20 different counter-UAS systems to identify how those systems will perform in realistic environments, according to a U.S. Army news release.
“Countering unlawful and adversarial drone activity is a homeland defense imperative,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 director. “There is no ‘silver bullet’ to address this challenge, and this pilot program integrates cutting-edge technology into the department’s broader counter-drone toolkit.”
The capabilities, including high-energy lasers and high-powered microwave systems, enable forces to disrupt and defeat unlawful or adversarial drone activity while minimizing risk to surrounding personnel and infrastructure as part of a layered defense. The task force launched the pilot program in close coordination with the services, U.S. Northern Command and the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot builds on several recent milestones that have advanced the safe domestic employment of directed energy systems:
- A joint DOW-FAA demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, validating that the systems do not pose undue risk to passenger aircraft.
- Operational systems employment in support of the southern border mission.
- The recent DOW-FAA safety risk assessment, which established procedures for future use while protecting the national airspace.
The department will finalize deployment plans with installation commanders, enabling operations to begin later in 2026, according to the DOW news release.
“Our collaboration with the FAA and the successful demonstration at White Sands were pivotal steps forward in our counter-UAS efforts,” said U.S. Army Col. Scott McLellan, deputy director of the task force. “We showed that directed energy systems can counter drone threats while preserving the safety of air travelers. This pilot program now allows us to translate that progress into evolving operational capability for the homeland.”
- This article was published by Sentry