Pentagon Tests Counter‑Drone Tech at Southern Border as Cartel Drone Activity Rises

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. — A light breeze offers a brief respite from temperatures above 100 °F, but the air is constantly thick with dust. Weapons vendors, soldiers, drone operators and reporters all struggle with the fine particles that infiltrate clothing and equipment.

This environment hosts Falcon Peak 26.2, NORTHCOM’s fourth counter‑drone exercise aimed at evaluating emerging technologies to neutralize drones threatening U.S. territory. Conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 25, the event brings together NORTHCOM, Joint Task Force‑Southern Border (JTF‑SB), the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Innovation Unit and the Army’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401. The goal is to field‑test vendor systems with a view to awarding contracts shortly after the drills conclude.

Larger than previous iterations, Falcon Peak coincides with the Trump administration’s intensified effort to secure the southern frontier. The Defense Department reports a “very noticeable” increase in cartel drone detections over recent months.

“It’s an increasing trend,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Brian Filler, JTF‑SB’s deputy commander for operations, on Sept. 24. “I don’t have those numbers memorized, but it’s rising at a rate that’s very noticeable.”

Earlier that day, Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, JTF‑SB’s commanding general, outlined the past 30 days’ statistics: 378 detections, 75 turnbacks, 15 engagements (drone take‑downs) and one captured drone crossing the border. While desiring higher engagement numbers, Taylor noted the upward trend in detections and turnbacks was encouraging. Turnbacks are achieved with systems like DZYNE’s Dronebuster, a handheld radio‑frequency and GPS jammer that forces drones to return to their operators.

The next operational focus is shifting from turnbacks to full engagements and, ultimately, captures. A recent engagement on Sept. 24 employed a high‑energy laser to destroy two cartel drones. The single capture was attributed to a “cyber takedown system,” details of which were not disclosed.

Detection rates have risen in part because JIATF 401 added new capabilities to the area, according to NORTHCOM operations director Brig. Gen. Jason Rueschhoff. He linked the increase to “better protection” and richer data collection.

Taylor identified the primary threat as reconnaissance drones used to support human‑trafficking operations, typically Group 1 commercial quadcopters. No lethal‑payload drones have been observed crossing the border yet, though Taylor warned that “the possibility does not exist” that such weapons could be deployed, citing open‑source reports of escalating lethal drone use by Mexican cartels and the influence of tactics learned from the Russia‑Ukraine conflict.

Lt. Cmdr. Lauren Cole, JTF‑SB’s deputy director of public affairs, emphasized that cartels are “evolving in how they use drones, and they’re enhancing how they use drones.” She noted the use of “different tactics in different places,” forcing U.S. military and DHS assets to continuously adapt.

“We are constantly ensuring that we can meet and exceed the threats of how they use them,” she added.

A Slew of Industry Offerings

Falcon Peak’s purpose, Cole explained, is to stay ahead of the threat by testing a wide array of vendor solutions. The demonstration covered three capability “lanes”: sensing, kinetic interceptors (drone‑on‑drone takedowns) and ballistic take‑downs using small‑caliber ammunition.

Twelve companies presented capabilities across the three lanes. Notable firms included Teledyne FLIR (Cerberus radar), Allen Control Systems (kinetic Bullfrog interceptor), Harmattan AI (GOBI hit‑to‑kill interceptor) and Genesis Arms (GEN‑12 12‑gauge shotgun). Only Teledyne FLIR’s radar and Genesis Arms’ GEN‑12 were demonstrated to reporters, with three test drones successfully downed by the GEN‑12 over three days.

On the final day, NORTHCOM also displayed its Anduril‑made flyaway kit, featuring the Heimdal 360° sensor, Anvil drone interceptors, the Pulsar electromagnetic‑warfare effector, the AI‑enabled Wisp infrared system and Ghost‑X reconnaissance drones. The reconnaissance drones flew to locate hostile drones and then returned to their launch point. The kit was procured by NORTHCOM the previous fall.

Learning From Tough Conditions

The desert’s sand and wind are not just nuisances; they are operational stress tests for counter‑drone hardware. Harmattan AI executives noted that the exercise highlighted the need to “overcome” harsh environmental factors. Callie Roth, a company executive, observed that prolonged exposure reveals battery‑life durability and dust impact on performance, prompting incremental design improvements for the GOBI system.

Robert Fletcher, Yuma Proving Ground’s sensor branch team lead, echoed that many vendors enter the desert with assumptions that quickly prove flawed: “Certain things melt. Certain electronics don’t work as well.” He referenced prior reporting on how extreme heat strains communications gear.

Joe Cornelius, CEO of Perseus, whose low‑cost interceptor is priced under $5,000 per hit, stressed the wind challenge: “The winds out here at Yuma are about twice what we’ve ever tested with down in Texas.” He advocated more rigorous testing across adverse conditions—wind, humidity, fog, rain—to ensure system reliability.

Feedback … Loading

Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, JIATF‑401’s leader, indicated that contract awards will follow the exercise, though exact timing and value remain undetermined. The task force is employing an AI‑driven “central repository” to sift through diverse data formats—emails, Word docs, PowerPoints, Excel sheets and PDFs—to rank vendor performance. Ross expects feedback “in days, not weeks,” emphasizing the rapid turnaround needed for industry partners who invested time and capital.

“It helps us sort through consolidated unstructured data,” Ross explained. “Our test reports will be in many formats, but AI can help us make sense of that. I want to move really quickly because we’ve got some committed industry partners downstairs right now that took their time and money to come out here and perform.”

Ross declined to single out any one capability, stressing the importance of a “layered defense” that integrates detection, tracking, identification, mitigation and capture. He advocated for interoperable, broadly scoped technologies rather than single‑function systems. “We really want to focus on those first principles that are common to all unmanned systems,” he said, noting that solutions addressing radio‑frequency and control‑frequency sensing, along with common defeat mechanisms, will provide resilient countermeasures against evolving adversary platforms.

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