U.S. Army Cpl. Gabriel Miranda and Pfc. Haakon Hove, both with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, assigned to Joint Task Force-Southern Border, prepare to report suspicious activity to U.S. Border Patrol, July 17, 2025, during a patrol along the southern border near El Paso, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Caleb Woodburn)
This is the second counter-UAS incident in less than a month that has revealed interagency turmoil over the employment of stateside anti-drone capabilities.
An unmanned aerial system hovers in the airspace above Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., during a Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) 401 counter-UAS (c-UAS) exercise Nov. 17-21, 2025. The exercise prepared military personnel to detect, identify, and neutralize such as those seen hovering. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Wesley Domalewski)
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Bryen Z. Martinez, a military police officer, left, explains equipment used for C-UAS to Col. Dennis W. Sampson, center, the Officer in Charge of Expeditionary Operations Training Group II Marine Expeditionary Force, during a C-UAS demo at The Basic School on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Jan. 15, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Donovan E. Melendez)
B-52 Stratofortresses from the 5th Bomb Wing takeoff at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Oct. 26. 2025. The U.S. Northern Command Counter-small Unmanned Aerial System fly-away kit is seen in the foreground. (Department of Defense photo by John Ingle)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (R) during a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on January 15, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment practice target lock-on against an incoming drone during Project Flytrap at Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels Training Area, Hohenfels, Germany, June 9, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elijah Magaña)
U.S. Soldiers, assigned to 1st Platoon, 808th Engineer Company, 109th Engineer Battalion, under Joint Task Force-Southern Border, conduct a foot patrol with a Dronebuster Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft System along the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass, Texas, June 14, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Adrianna Douglas)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon, July 10, 2025. The event was hosted to portray the Secretary of Defense’s initiative of Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alondra Y. Lopez Gonzalez)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) and Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte shake hands during their press-conference following their talks in Kyiv on August 22, 2025, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP via Getty Images)
The new initiative, dubbed UNITE–Brave NATO, is getting ready to start a pilot “competition” where industry teams from Ukraine and NATO countries will have the opportunity to…
