U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said an interagency task force to address the growing threat of hostile drones and deliver unmanned systems will be established by the Secretary of the Army.
The U.S. Department of Defense’s actions will help to enhance the military’s small unmanned systems as a way to further protect personnel, equipment and facilities both in the United States and abroad, he said. The joint task force – Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF 401) will bring together talent from across agencies, Hegseth said, and will report to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
“We’re moving fast — cutting through bureaucracy, consolidating resources, and empowering this task force with the utmost authority to outpace our adversaries,” Hegseth said. “Make no mistake — under this administration and President Trump’s leadership, we will innovate, we will lead, and we will win.”
According to the August 27 memo, the DoD will disestablish the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-sUAS) Office (JCO) and establish the JIATF 401 to better “align authorities and resources to rapidly deliver Joint C-sUAS capabilities to America’s warfighters, defeat adversary threats, and promote sovereignty over national airspace.”
The memo said the number of organizations involved in the C s-UAS had grown since its inception in 2020, and that the new group was necessary to create a “single focal point to centralize, coordinate, and lead these efforts.”