Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) has evaluated the Sky Valor counter-UAS platform during a demonstration at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, conducted in coordination with Joint Task Force-Southern Border and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The two-day event assessed the long-range system against a range of small UAS flight profiles. According to JIATF-401, the platform demonstrated the ability to detect, track, identify and defeat aerial threats at extended ranges while operating continuously.
Focus on layered border defenses
The demonstration brought together personnel from JIATF-401, Joint Task Force-Southern Border and CBP to evaluate capabilities relevant to operations along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jose Gonzalez, a Customs and Border Protection Liaison Officer embedded with JIATF-401, said the scenarios used during the event reflected operational feedback from military personnel and border agents.
“During our visit to Yuma, we evaluated the SkyValor system against rigorous threat scenarios based on feedback from warfighters and border agents at the southern border,” Gonzalez said.
“Having an effective non-kinetic defeat option is a crucial component of strong, layered, counter-drone capabilities at the southern border.”
According to JIATF-401, the trials examined the system’s integrated sensing and non-kinetic defeat capabilities, including electronic warfare mitigation techniques intended to neutralize drones while minimizing collateral effects.
Operational validation effort
Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro Elizalde, southern border team lead for JIATF-401 Response Division, highlighted the interagency cooperation involved in the event.
“It was a team effort to get the SkyValor system to Yuma and validate it for operational use,” Elizalde said. “A whole-of-government approach is crucial to maintain a strong counter-drone defense across all 1,954 miles of the southern border.”
JIATF-401 said the demonstration represents another step in its effort to assess and field emerging counter-drone technologies, while incorporating operational feedback to inform future capability development.
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Post Image Credit: CACI
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