Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Joint Interagency Task Force 401 hosted an interagency meeting today at the White House to strengthen cooperation across the government to counter threats posed by the nefarious use of small unmanned aerial systems.
The meeting brought together senior leaders from across the federal enterprise to enhance the whole-of-government approach to counter-UAS. Senior leaders discussed the growing sophistication of small-drone threats, the importance of technological integration and opportunities to strengthen cooperation among military, law enforcement, intelligence and industry partners.
"Small uncrewed aircraft systems are changing the character of modern warfare and homeland defense," Driscoll said. "Adversaries are exploiting inexpensive and adaptable drone technology faster than our current acquisition system can handle. Countering this threat requires every element of the U.S. government working together with shared purpose and unity of effort."
The discussion underscored the need to synchronize efforts across agencies. Task force leadership provided an update on its establishment, outlined near-term priorities and emphasized collaboration in testing, operations and training.
"Countering drones is not just a battlefield problem — it's a homeland defense imperative," said Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, task force director. "Our goal is to integrate sensors, effectors and mission command systems into a responsive, interoperable network that protects service members and American citizens alike. Together with our interagency partners, we will maintain the initiative and ensure our organizations can detect, track and defeat UAS threats."
The task force is operationally focused on small drones that threaten U.S. forces, infrastructure and critical facilities. Its mission focuses on three lines of effort: defending the homeland, supporting warfighter lethality and joint force training.
"JIATF-401 exists to make our collective, whole-of-government response more effective," Ross said. "This is the defining challenge of our time; the drone threat is evolving faster than any other, and no single agency can solve it alone. Our measure of success is simple: deliver state-of-the-art counter-UAS capabilities quickly to the warfighter, at home and abroad."
The task force aims to develop a counter-UAS marketplace for capability sharing, an authoritative dataset for testing and evaluation and a forum for interagency collaboration. It will also continue to support the National Security Council's initiatives under the task force to restore American airspace sovereignty.
The meeting concluded with a commitment from interagency leaders to support a future task force-led interagency summit later this month.