The Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) hosted an Industry Day on March 5, 2026, at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia, bringing together representatives from government and industry to discuss collaboration and accelerate development of counter-small Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-sUAS) capabilities.
The event provided a forum for JIATF-401 leadership to outline the organization’s mission, priorities and acquisition approaches while giving industry partners the opportunity to engage directly with government stakeholders about emerging technologies and operational needs.
“I want you to know what we’re doing to make your products accessible to our customers and what we’re doing to expand that customer base so we can get greater depth in our industrial base,”
said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF-401.
Ross highlighted how the accessibility and low cost of small unmanned systems have changed the security environment. Capabilities once limited to nation-state actors are now widely available, enabling smaller groups or individuals to operate systems that previously required significant resources.
“What they’re concerned about is the proliferation of small unmanned systems that are inexpensive and give capability that was previously reserved for state adversaries to small groups and individuals,” Ross said. “If you give them the ability to conduct some type of attack without fear of attribution or accountability, that changes the paradigm.”
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross
He emphasized that industry feedback is essential to addressing capability gaps and improving how c-sUAS technologies are integrated across the Department of Defense and interagency partners. Companies frequently ask what standards or protocols their systems must meet to integrate with existing C-sUAS ecosystems.
Ross said the challenge requires shifting focus from defeating individual systems to understanding how drones are employed operationally. Rather than seeking a single “silver bullet,” he stressed the need for a layered defence that combines detection, tracking and defeat capabilities to counter evolving threats.
Source: U.S. Army