Army Office Looking for Defense Technologies Against Drone Swarms

The U.S. Army’s Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office is seeking a system that can address drone threats.

At the Association of the United States Army convention, JCO Director Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey invited industry players offering such capabilities to propose their technologies to his office, saying that JCO has allotted money to invest in a counter-drone system.

Gainey said that he is interested in counter-drone capabilities as-a-service, Breaking Defense reported.

Col. Michael Parent, the JCO’s acquisition division chief, noted, however, that while the office has a budget for prototyping capabilities, acquiring a counter-drone system depends on the assessment and needs of military services. 

The JCO is planning to host a demonstration of defense solutions against small drones in June 2024. Participating entities will attempt to defeat a fleet of 50 small drones flying over White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

According to Parent, the demonstration could feature systems with electronic warfare capabilities since kinetic tools such as missiles would encounter difficulties in defeating drone swarms.