About a dozen vendors demonstrated counter-drone systems during Falcon Peak 26.2, a U.S. Northern Command exercise at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona from Aug. 31 through Sept. 25. The Pentagon evaluated the technology as NORTHCOM and partner agencies pursued a goal of awarding contracts soon after the exercise, Breaking Defense reported.

The exercise brought together NORTHCOM, Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Innovation Unit and the Army’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401. It was NORTHCOM’s fourth counter-drone exercise and its largest Falcon Peak iteration to date. Yuma Proving Ground is about seven miles from the Mexico-U.S. border.

Falcon Peak focused on three categories of capabilities: sensing, kinetic interceptors and ballistic takedowns. Three companies supplied sensing systems, five demonstrated kinetic interceptors and four offered ballistic capabilities. The lineup included Teledyne FLIR’s Cerberus radar, Allen Control Systems’ Bullfrog interceptor, Harmattan AI’s GOBI hit-to-kill interceptor and Genesis Arms’ magazine-fed GEN-12 12-gauge shotgun.

The systems were demonstrated under desert conditions that exposed them to heat, dust and wind. Those conditions were operational concerns rather than incidental obstacles, since military officials and vendors were assessing whether equipment could continue operating in a harsh environment. Harmattan AI executive Callie Roth said the company was studying how sustained exposure affected GOBI’s battery life and resistance to dust. Yuma Proving Ground sensor branch team lead Robert Fletcher said intense sunlight and heat had caused some systems to melt or electronics to perform less effectively.

Breaking Defense was shown Teledyne FLIR’s radar and Genesis Arms’ GEN-12 during the exercise. Over three days in the desert, reporters saw the shotgun system take down three test drones. NORTHCOM also displayed an Anduril flyaway kit combining the Heimdal 360-degree sensor, Anvil interceptors, the Pulsar electromagnetic-warfare effector, the Wisp infrared system and Ghost-X reconnaissance drones. NORTHCOM purchased the kit the previous fall.

The exercise took place as military officials described an increase in drone activity along the southern border. Over a 30-day period, Joint Task Force-Southern Border recorded 378 drone detections, 75 turnbacks, 15 engagements and one capture of an adversarial drone, Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor said during the exercise.

A turnback occurs when a counter-drone system disconnects an aircraft from its operator and sends it back or forces it to land. Taylor said the detections came from multiple radar systems, while devices such as DZYNE’s handheld Dronebuster can use radio-frequency and GPS jamming for turnbacks.

Taylor said the next step is to move from turnbacks to actual engagements and eventually captures. On Sept. 24, a high-energy laser system brought down two cartel drones, he said. Taylor also said the single capture was initiated by a cyber takedown system, but he and Air Force Brig. Gen. Brian Filler did not provide details about that capability.

Joint Task Force-Southern Border has therefore recorded both nonkinetic responses and direct takedowns, while the exercise tested additional options for sensing, interception and ballistic defeat. The demonstrations did not represent a completed shift in the force’s operating model, but they showed the technologies being evaluated for the next stage of counter-drone operations.

Officials described the main threat as Group 1, commercial off-the-shelf quadcopters used for reconnaissance in support of human-trafficking operations. Taylor and Filler said the task force and its partners had not seen drones carrying lethal payloads cross the border. Taylor nevertheless said the possibility exists, pointing to the reported growth of lethal-drone use in cartel violence in Mexico and concerns that tactics from Russia and Ukraine could spread into the region.

NORTHCOM operations director Brig. Gen. Jason Rueschhoff said the arrival of additional capabilities from Joint Interagency Task Force 401 had contributed to the increase in detections. He said the added detections provided better protection and more data. The exercise’s vendor demonstrations were part of a broader effort to identify counter-drone systems that could meet the agencies’ operational requirements and support contract awards soon after Falcon Peak.