Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll to establish Joint Interagency Task Force 401 to counter hostile unmanned aircraft systems.
• The task force leader will report directly to the deputy secretary of defense and hold acquisition authority with discretionary funding of up to $50 million per initiative.
• The Army-led Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office will be disestablished once the new task force is stood up after years of coordinating demonstrations and standards without purchase authority.
• JIATF 401 will consolidate department-wide research, forensics, exploitation and replication efforts for counter-sUAS and tie into the Defense Innovation Unit’s Replicator 2 initiative.
• Initial steps include immediate recruitment of a technical lead and four personnel, a five-day deadline to request office space, a 30-day implementation plan and test-range recommendations, and a formal review after 36 months.