U.S. military to host directed energy ‘shoot-off’ amid governmentwide counter-drone push
America’s specialized counter-drone team is running a directed energy pilot program on multiple military bases to inform the government’s path to operationalizing high‑energy lasers, high‑power microwaves and other associated weapons, without shutting down airspace or disrupting missions on the ground.
Joint Interagency Task Force 401’s wide-scale series of technology tests will also pit select commercial capabilities against each other in “a directed energy shoot-off” event later this year, Brig. Gen. Matt Ross told DefenseScoop at a media roundtable on Friday.
“We need to develop the tactics, techniques and procedures, to be able to use them on a base in a way that doesn’t impede the critical functions of that base,” said Ross, who leads JIATF-401.
Concerns over domestic drone threats have mounted in recent years, with vulnerabilities largely sparked by rapid technological innovation driving-down costs and drastic spikes in unmanned aerial system sightings and swarms over U.S. military bases and critical infrastructure.
The Defense Department-led JIATF-401 launched in August 2025 to synchronize sprawling counter-drone activities, protection policies, and procurements across the joint force, federal agencies, and at the state and local levels.
Task Force leaders and officials from the DOD, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and dozens of other stakeholder organizations convened in Virginia on Friday for its second Interagency Summit.
Among a range of topics, Ross shared new details about his vision for this nascent pilot program with reporters on the sidelines of the conference, after briefly mentioning the plans onstage during his opening keynote highlighting JIATF-401’s first-year progress.
“It’s a directed energy pilot — and so, when we say ‘directed energy,’ we say it to be inclusive of all novel technologies — but what we’re really focused on right now is high-energy lasers and then high-power microwaves,” Ross told DefenseScoop. “And we have a number of systems, and we’ve proven that the science works — like you can defeat a drone with both a high-energy laser and then with a high-power microwave — but we need to figure out how to use them successfully in an operational context.”
The task force commander said those involved are interested in deploying different systems on various military installations with “actual service members” running and maintaining them in scenarios that usually require field support representatives, for a 365-day period.
The overarching hope is that collaboration over a months-long timeframe will shed new light on counter-drone power requirements, cost burdens, repair tempos, operational tactics and more.
“It’s only with that type of information that I’ll be able to go back to the services and say, ‘I know you want to integrate directed energy — here’s what it costs … so you can do a relative comparison of that type of defeat mechanism or mitigation, compared to a more conventional defeat mechanism where you’re just going to sense and maybe use interceptors,’” Ross said. “So, that’s the goal of the directed energy pilot.”
Additional locations could be announced in the future, according to JIATF-401 officials.
But so far, they confirmed that the military will be deploying systems at Fort Huachuca in Arizona; Fort Bliss, Texas; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
“As part of that directed energy pilot, we’re going to run a directed energy shoot-off in December,” Ross also noted during the media roundtable.
He didn’t speak in depth about that planned engagement, but said it is unfolding in conjunction with the Pentagon’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
“We want to look at new entrants [from industry], as well. So, we don’t want to just down-select to one or two systems, but we want to allow young, innovative companies that have a good idea and maybe want to introduce something that looks more like a commercial laser with a more robust supply chain, so we can reduce the cost of maintenance over time. We want to give them a chance to perform,” Ross told DefenseScoop. “And then we’re trying to structure that event in such a way that for systems that perform effectively or successfully, it immediately results in a purchase order that allows us to start building the production lines to get these systems into the field.”
A spokesperson for JIATF-401 told DefenseScoop that the directed energy shoot-off is set to be held at the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
