Following initial pilot testing at Edwards Air Force Base, the train-the-trainer initiative establishes an organic capability to field and instruct small unmanned aircraft system operations command-wide.
Joint Interagency Task Force 401 leaders visited Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to learn about the installation's counter-unmanned aerial systems operations and initiatives in advance of the upcoming directed energy pilot program.
On behalf of the War Department, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 selected five installations to participate in the directed-energy counter-unmanned aircraft systems pilot program included in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
The pilot program allows parents, guardians and family members to invest up to $5,000 a year starting in July, and the Treasury Department will be making a one-time $1,000 investment into funds for babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.