Pentagon counter-drone task force preps ‘shoot-off’ for directed energy prototypes

WASHINGTON — A pilot program run by the Pentagon’s counter-drone task force is planning to live fire directed energy weapons later this year, which could be bought on the spot if they perform well, according to the task force’s director. 

“We’re going to run a directed energy shoot-off in December,” Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of the Joint Interagency Task Force 401, said Friday during a roundtable with reporters at a summit hosted by JIATF-401 in Alexandria, Va. 

If officials identify “systems that perform effectively or successfully,” Ross said the event will be structured such that “it immediately results in a purchase order that allows us to start building the production lines to get these systems into the field.”

The pilot program, announced by JIATF-401 in May, selected five different military facilities to test out directed energy systems for counter-drone missions. Officials are interested in directed energy weapons, particularly lasers and high-powered microwaves, for their ability to cheaply and effectively defeat unmanned systems that have buzzed domestic military facilities and attacked US installations abroad. 

The Pentagon established JIATF-401 last year to serve as the lead entity coordinating federal efforts to rapidly field counter-drone tech across all domains. The summit on Friday brought together a wide range of interagency partners to assess progress and establish new goals. 

Officials are still exploring how they can effectively use relatively nascent directed energy technology, including for more challenging scenarios like homeland defense that come with greater guardrails. An apparent miscommunication over a laser test earlier this year prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to briefly close air space over El Paso, Texas; military officials in the time since have emphasized close coordination with the FAA, culminating in a joint agreement for a laser system to protect the southern border.

Ross also noted that installation commanders must understand how directed energy technology can impact their own operations, which events like the pilot program can help determine. 

“We need to develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures to be able to use them on a base in a way that doesn’t impede the critical functions of that base,” he said. “I don’t want to shut down the airspace as I use those systems.”

Moreover, the general said through events like the pilot program, officials are trying to establish exactly how affordable weapons directed energy weapons may be, which typically have a low cost-per-shot compared to alternatives, but can still be expensive to buy and operate.

“If I procure that system and it costs me $6 million, and I take one shot a year, you can’t tell me that shot only costs eight cents,” Ross said, using notional examples of a system price tag and cost-per-effect. “So we have to take a more holistic look at it.”

The counter-drone mission doesn’t end at US military installations. The recent World Cup tournament in the US, where the FAA says over 700 drones were seized, was just one example of a large-scale event that requires tight interagency coordination to protect. But, Steven Willoughby, executive director of the program executive office for UAS and counter-UAS systems at the Department of Homeland Security, noted that given the vast amount of critical infrastructure in the United States, local authorities will be primarily tasked with defending it. 

“We don’t want to treat this as something that’s unique, or so specialized that only the FBI or DHS can do it,” Willoughby said during the media roundtable. The federal government is underway with counter-drone training for law enforcement as part of a newly minted program, and Willoughby stressed federal officials can offer support to local governments where needed. 

Still, “This has to be normalized to the point where state and local [officials] are enabled, resourced, and then empowered to be able to protect their jurisdictions, their constituents, their critical infrastructure from drone threats,” he said.