counter-UAS team boosts domestic defense

A new mobile unit is being handed to the United States’ domestic defense arsenal: a compact, 11-soldier counter-UAS team built to rapidly respond to and neutralize drone threats around critical installations. NORTHCOM has certified this specialized team for deployment, marking a tangible shift in how the U.S. protects bases from aerial incursions. The unit is now fully operational after completing demanding field exercises that tested its performance under realistic, high-pressure scenarios across multiple climates.

At the heart of the program is a fly-away kit from Anduril, designed to deliver a layered, 360-degree defense. This modular system pulls together detection, tracking, and neutralization into a single, transportable package. The Wisp sensor network, which uses AI-enhanced infrared capabilities to spot movement around the perimeter, forms the sensory backbone. In parallel, the Pulsar platform adds electromagnetic warfare tools that can identify and disrupt drone signals. The Heimdal mobile sensor trailer rounds out the sensing layer with thermal imaging and radar to extend the field of view even further.

The interception component centers on the Anvil family of interceptors. The standard Anvil is a self-guided drone that can pursue and ram a hostile drone to neutralize it. A variant carries a munition payload for more decisive action when non-kinetic options are insufficient. In short, the kit provides the kind of multi-layered, rapid-response capability that can be deployed where conventional air defense may be slow to respond.

According to Defenseworld Net, the team’s certification was announced by NORAD and USNORTHCOM as a concrete step toward enabling installation commanders to act decisively. The 11 operators fill a deployable, all-hands-on-deck role, offering both detection and deterrence as well as active and passive defeat options. This is a shift from advisory or monitoring functions to a tangible, on-the-ground defense package that can be moved where needed in a matter of hours or days, depending on the threat and location.

Among the tests that shaped the unit’s readiness were large-scale exercises in Florida and North Dakota. Falcon Peak 25.2 featured the 10th Special Forces Group acting as adversaries, testing the team against a spectrum of drone-based threats. In a subsequent rigorous exercise, the unit defended the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, where operators neutralized more than 100 unmanned aerial targets over several days. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joey Frey, the c-sUAS program manager for NORTHCOM, noted that most operators had little prior experience with this system yet adapted rapidly and performed at or beyond expectations. The official certification from USNORTHCOM and the 21st Space Base Delta at Peterson Space Force Base reflects a proactive push to harden U.S. bases against evolving aerial threats.