Task Force 401: Army to lead on countering small UAS tech, with buying power

WASHINGTON — The US Army has been tasked with standing up a new Joint Interagency Task Force 401 that is expected to give it broader oversight over tech to counter small drones across the Defense Department and, potentially, further across the federal government, according to a new directive and a defense source.

“It’s a new unified team that’s going to bring together our best talent from all our agencies to counter these threats and restore control of our skies,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video posted to X on Thursday, adding that the task force has been empowered “with the utmost authority to outpace our adversaries.”

In an Aug. 27 memo, Hegseth goes on to direct Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to close the service-led Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-sUAS) Office (JCO) that had been evaluating the weapons for the services but didn’t have the teeth to enforce purchase.

Instead, Hegseth told the Army to set up JIATF 401 to “better align authorities and resources to rapidly deliver Joint C-sUAS capabilities to America’s warfighters, defeat adversary threats, and promote sovereignty over national airspace.” 

Unlike the JCO, this new task force director will report directly to the deputy secretary of defense, have acquisition and procurement authority, and be the support organization for the department’s “forensics, exploitation, and replication” for C-sUAS, the memo notes. 

“DoD must focus on speed over process by disestablishing the JCO and establishing JIATF 401 with expanded authorities to execute capability development and delivery timelines that outpace the threat,” Hegseth added. 

All department-wide c-sUAS research and development efforts will be managed by the new task force and it can approve up to $50 million per c-UAS development effort. However, the development of service-specific and US Special Operations Command capabilities are exempt from the move. 

Since task forces are typically temporary setups designed to home in on a specific problem, Hegseth said there will be a “sunset review” for JIATF 401 after 36 months.

While Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jame Mingus first teased this plan earlier this summer, this week’s memo sheds new light on the plan.

But it may have even deeper implications across the federal government, reshaping how other agencies — like the Department of Homeland Security — evaluate and purchase C-UAS, according to one defense official, and will likely play a pivotal role in the defensive weapons picked for the Trump administration’s evolving Golden Dome plan.