{"id":54179,"date":"2021-01-08T21:07:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T21:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/08\/pentagons-first-demo-of-tech-to-counter-small-drones-set-for-spring\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:59:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:59:16","slug":"pentagons-first-demo-of-tech-to-counter-small-drones-set-for-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2021\/01\/08\/pentagons-first-demo-of-tech-to-counter-small-drones-set-for-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon\u2019s first demo of small counter-drone tech set for spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The first opportunity for industry to demonstrate technology for the Pentagon\u2019s enduring counter-drone capability<\/a> will take place in April, according to the two-star general in charge of the joint effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defense Department is developing a counter-small unmanned aircraft system capability for use domestically, in host nations and in conflict. The Pentagon established the Army-led Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office<\/a>, or JCO, and approved a set of requirements to help counter small drones in September 2020, which laid a path for how industry can develop technology to plug into a single command-and-control system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department released its first joint C-sUAS strategy Jan. 7<\/a> and will come out with an implementation plan that maps out a course of action by the end of the month. The strategy was just recently released, but the JCO has worked since its inception to produce an enduring set of systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the first week of April, the first common test range event with industry will be held by the Army\u2019s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office as well as the Air Force, Army Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, the JCO director, said during a Jan. 8 Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon plans to host these demonstrations twice a year at common test ranges<\/a> to evaluate current and future technologies, which might help the JCO decide the best-of-breed options to develop a permanent solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry will have the opportunity to bring all of its \u201clow-collateral effectors\u201d to the range, Gainey said, and the team will choose the best systems from the demonstration to \u201cmove forward with a joint solution,\u201d Gainey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gainey did not state where the demonstration would occur but did say event information would be posted for industry on Jan. 15. The JCO identified three sites for common test ranges to conduct evaluation and for the testing of promising counter-drone technology, but it has yet to reveal those locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\t