The Department of Defense is establishing a joint interagency task force dedicated to accelerating the development and fielding of counter-unmanned aerial systems, or c-UAS.
Gen. James Mingus, vice chief of staff of the Army, said at an event Wednesday that the threat of drones today is similar to the improvised explosive device crisis during the Global War on Terror in the 2000s. Concerns over IEDs led to the creation of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or JIEDDO.
Mingus pointed out that JIEDDO delivered the mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, which protected military personnel from various threats in austere environments. JIEDDO can build and deploy new capabilities to the battlefield within three to four months.
“And we need an organization that is joint interagency, has authorities, a colorless pot of money, and the authorities to go after from requirements all the way through acquisition in a rapid way to be able to keep pace with that,” the official shared.
What Is Known About the Planned C-UAS Task Force
According to Mingus, the Army, which has been in charge of the DOD’s c-UAS efforts since 2019, will lead the joint interagency task force. He added that the service will ask Congress for flexible funding for the development of UAS, c-UAS and electronic warfare capabilities.
The Army already included at least $858 million for c-UAS in its budget request for fiscal 2026.
“If it’s a piece of technology that moves faster than the traditional budgetary cycle, we need to look at how we make agility and agile funding as part of how we do this,” Mingus added.
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