EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Unmanned aerial systems have transformed warfare much like the invention of gunpowder and tanks.
This fact was driven home when U.S. forces were attacked in a series of UAS strikes in Iraq and Syria in October 2023 leading to more than 20 service members being injured.
To get after the UAS problem in the homeland, the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command held Falcon Peak 25.2 at the Eglin Test and Training Complex Sept. 3-18. The focus of the counter-small UAS experiment was on detecting, identifying, tracking, and mitigating UAS incursions at military installations, as well as gauging low-collateral defeat options within the United States.
Soldiers from the 10th Special Forces Group played the adversary, flying aggressor UAS profiles representative of an actual threat. About 16 Department of War and industry partners tried to counter the threats through sensing and mitigation platforms, allowing for real-time feedback so leaders can assess new and emerging C-sUAS technologies and advocate for the best resources to defeat those threats.
USNORTHCOM demonstrated the capabilities of its new C-sUAS fly-away kit Sept. 17-18 on Eglin’s Santa Rosa Island range to interagency leaders, allies and partners. The kit, produced by Anduril, will provide the combatant command with a rapid-response capability to defeat a UAS threat and includes a suite of sensors, effectors and software for homeland defense and deployment missions.
During the demonstrations, an aggressor UAS flew over the range while the fly-away kit’s mobile sentry detected and tracked it before Anvil, a low-collateral defeat drone, was launched to intercept the UAS, knocking it out of the sky.
Protecting the mission, facilities, and people at Eglin is a priority for Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, 96th Test Wing commander.
“My motto is be prepared and be ready. Eglin is a power projection platform developing, testing and evaluating capabilities for the warfighter, and my job is to protect this platform,” Massaro said. “It’s important to exercise the authorities already in place for installation commanders to protect infrastructure, people and mission while fielding capabilities that can detect, deter and defeat small UAS threats.”
The then Department of Defense named USNORTHCOM as the department’s lead synchronizer in Homeland C-sUAS response in the contiguous United States and Alaska in
November 2024. USNORTHCOM hosted its first C-sUAS experimentation – Falcon Peak 25.1 – in October 2024 at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Gen. Gregory Guillot, NORAD and USNORTHCOM commander, told guests the UAS events of 2023 and 2024 spurred a collaboration between USNORTHCOM, interagency partners and industry to get after the problem set of drone incursions over U.S. military installations and critical infrastructure. Through the successes of the inaugural Falcon Peak and the steady advance toward combating such incursions, the general said USNORTHCOM is committed to the C-sUAS mission as the DoW’s lead synchronizer.
“As I told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year, NORTHCOM will play a critical role in an enduring whole-of-government effort to protect people, infrastructure, aircraft, and facilities from malign small UAS incursions,” he said. “This effort will require investment in robust and evolving mitigation technologies suitable for use in the United States aligned with interagency and industry partners and policy and statutory changes that balance safety, privacy, and defensive requirements.”
As small-UAS technology continues to develop, countermeasures will also need to evolve. Falcon Peak provides the incubator needed to test, evaluate, succeed, fail, make recommendations, and capture data to ensure commanders have the tools required to defend the homeland from the UAS threat.