U.S. Army Cpl. Gabriel Miranda and Pfc. Haakon Hove, both with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, assigned to Joint Task Force-Southern Border, prepare to report suspicious activity to U.S. Border Patrol, July 17, 2025, during a patrol along the southern border near El Paso, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Caleb Woodburn)
This is the second counter-UAS incident in less than a month that has revealed interagency turmoil over the employment of stateside anti-drone capabilities.
An unmanned aerial system hovers in the airspace above Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., during a Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) 401 counter-UAS (c-UAS) exercise Nov. 17-21, 2025. The exercise prepared military personnel to detect, identify, and neutralize such as those seen hovering. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Wesley Domalewski)
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Bryen Z. Martinez, a military police officer, left, explains equipment used for C-UAS to Col. Dennis W. Sampson, center, the Officer in Charge of Expeditionary Operations Training Group II Marine Expeditionary Force, during a C-UAS demo at The Basic School on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Jan. 15, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Donovan E. Melendez)
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment practice target lock-on against an incoming drone during Project Flytrap at Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels Training Area, Hohenfels, Germany, June 9, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elijah Magaña)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tests a Dronebuster while touring static displays led by the 3rd Battalion, 10th Mountain Division (3/10 MTN) Warriors and Foreign Legion Force Poland Battle Group in Powidz, Poland, Feb. 15, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander C. Kubitza)
The new task force will be expected to serve as the Defense Department’s lead organization for developing capabilities to defeat small unmanned aerial systems.
