A US task force focused on defeating drone threats recently put a new autonomous counter-drone system to the test at the US southern border.
The Joint Interagency Task Force 401, or JIATF-401, is an Army-led counter-drone effort created to help the Pentagon and other federal agencies move faster on systems for detecting, tracking, and defeating small drones.
The task force’s recent test of a new system in southern Arizona proved successful, validating it for operational use as the task force builds its defensive arsenal.
According to a press statement, JIATF-401 and some of its partners evaluated the SkyValor counter-UAS system at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona, near the US-Mexico border. SkyValor is a long-range platform that can autonomously sense drones around the clock.
SkyValor has a range of non-kinetic methods for countering drones, including electronic warfare. Non-kinetic, in this case, means that the system can disrupt or disable a drone without physically shooting it down. During the two-day test, JIATF-401 found that the system could detect, track, identify, and defeat small uncrewed aerial systems at extended ranges.
“During our visit to Yuma, we evaluated the SkyValor system against rigorous threat scenarios based on feedback from warfighters and border agents at the southern border,” Jose Gonzalez, a Customs and Border Protection liaison officer embedded with JIATF-401, said. “Having an effective non-kinetic defeat option is a crucial component of strong, layered, counter-drone capabilities at the southern border.”
US Department of Defense photo by Sgt. Jerron Bruce
These capabilities can be layered with kinetic options, offering more flexible response options. In Ukraine, where drones are a defining element of the modern battlefield, both sides use solutions that range from jamming to shooting drones out of the sky with shotguns.
The US is experimenting to find the counter-drone solutions it needs, and military leaders have identified the southern border as a “sandbox” of sorts for testing.
“If you’re willing to bring it down to the southern border, we’ll put it to use. We’ll tell you if it works,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of US Northern Command, said recently, calling the border area a “literal and figurative sandbox.”
A mixture of US agencies is involved in defending against drones at the US southern border, where the systems are seeing rising use in drug trafficking activity. DoD has been using the border as a testing ground for new counter-drone technology amid a broader operation involving mounted and dismounted military patrols.
JIATF-401, which replaced the Department of Defense’s previous counter-drone force, has taken notes from the conflict in Ukraine and sought to accelerate the adoption of counter-drone capabilities across DoD and the federal government. It has also worked on a drone marketplace for partners and allies to buy a range of systems.
Drones lower the barrier to entry for surveillance and strike and represent a challenge in the hands of state and non-state actors alike. To meet the threat, the US is racing to field new counter-drone systems, but many aren’t widely available or combat-proven.
Incidents and attacks, however, have added urgency. Hostile drones killed six US service members in Kuwait in March and three soldiers in Jordan in 2024. An investigation into the latter, obtained by Business Insider, found that the military was insufficiently prepared to defend against the threat. Efforts are currently underway to change that.
