Pete Hegseth, secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, has issued a memorandum directing the secretary of the Army to establish the Joint Interagency Task Force 401, or JIATF 401, to accelerate the delivery of counter-small unmanned aircraft systems, or C-sUAS, to U.S. warfighters.
DOD said Thursday JIATF 401 will report directly to the deputy secretary of defense and replace the Joint C-sUAS Office, or JCO.
“We’re moving fast — cutting through bureaucracy, consolidating resources, and empowering this task force with the utmost authority to outpace our adversaries,” Hegseth said.
Responsibilities of JIATF 401 & New Task Force Director
In a DOD memo published Wednesday, Hegseth said JIATF 401 will serve as the supported organization for the department’s C-sUAS-related forensics, exploitation and replication efforts and will have a director with procurement and acquisition authority.
The director of JIATF 401 will submit to the DOD comptroller/chief financial officer the fiscal year 2026 unfunded requirements for review within 30 days. The director will serve as the hiring authority for all staff actions; determine whether military service-specific C-sUAS capability will be adopted; and may approve up to $50 million in funding per C-sUAS-related effort.
According to the memo, the DOD deputy secretary will consolidate all departmentwide C-sUAS research, development, test and evaluation resources and efforts under JIATF 401, except for U.S. Special Operations Command and military service-specific C-sUAS program of record activities.
Hegseth noted that the proposed task force will have a sunset review at 36 months.
