Defense Officials Studying Counter-Drone Demo
The demonstration is bringing together some 1,000 industry personnel, observers from allied nations, and participants from four military branches.
The Department of Defense is conducting a live-fire demonstration of anti-drone technology this week in Point Mugu, Calif., according to an Aug. 1 report by Lisa Ferdinando of DoD News. She reported the Black Dart 2015 demonstration continues until Aug. 7.
Quoting Navy Cmdr. David Zook, chief of the Capabilities Assessment Division with the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, who said the demonstration is bringing together some 1,000 industry personnel, observers from allied nations, and participants from four military branches, her report said he described it as "a unique and very valuable window for us to come together for two weeks here and practice in a littoral environment, a land-based environment and a deep-sea environment in many different scenarios. Small manned and unmanned aircraft have always been hard to find," he added. "It's hard to tell the difference in the radar cross section from that and other small airborne vehicles or even birds."
Air Force Maj. Scott Gregg, Black Dart's project officer, told her that DoD officials are focused on staying ahead of the threat. "If there is anything that the terrorists have shown, it's that they'll be innovative and use anything that they can at their disposal to do what they're trying to do," Gregg said. "What we're trying to do at Black Dart is make sure that we are staying ahead of the game and that we have a good understanding of their capabilities before those capabilities outpace ours. . . . It's a problem for everyone," he said.