Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Counter Uas Missile Defense topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CENTCOM calls out counter‑UAS, directed energy and integrated air defense as top priorities
Summary
Gen. Eric Kurilla told the House committee that countering swarming unmanned aerial systems and integrating layered air defenses are top operational needs; he urged investments in detect-and-defeat capabilities, experimentation with directed energy and software integration.
Gen. Eric Kurilla told the House Armed Services Committee that the character of warfare is changing with a drone revolution, and he urged Congress and the Defense Department to prioritize counter‑UAS and layered air and missile defense systems.
Kurilla said counter‑UAS is "the number one thing" currently needed to protect forces and partners. "The number one challenge out there is detect. It's the ability to detect the counter UAS systems and to defeat the swarms," he said. He described rapid experimentation with laser-guided munitions and high‑powered microwave systems during maritime operations against Houthi UAVs, noting some successes.
Nut graf: Witnesses described a spectrum of detect, non-kinetic, kinetic and directed-energy options. They emphasized software, open architectures and systems integration so that air defenses and counter‑UAS tools can be managed from unified command-and-control systems.
Kurilla highlighted the operational utility of near-term technologies: he said "about 40% of the drones shot down were shot down by something called Advanced Precision Weapon Kill System, a laser guided 2.75 inch rocket... That's a $25,000 munition going against a roughly $50,000–$100,000 drone." He recommended more work on directed energy and high‑powered microwave systems, stronger software integration across systems, and magazine depth for systems that can defeat swarms.
Ending: Commanders asked for rapid prototyping, testing in theater, and acquisition pathways that get effective counter‑UAS and integrated air-missile defense capabilities into the hands of warfighters more quickly.
