CACI International said Monday it has received a Pentagon contract to deploy its SkyValor counter-drone system along the U.S. southern border. The company said the award will move the system into full-rate production, though it did not disclose the contract’s value, the number of systems ordered or a deployment schedule.
System Moves From Testing To Deployment
SkyValor is a transportable counter-unmanned aircraft system designed to detect, track and stop drones. CACI said the equipment uses automated sensing and non-kinetic electronic countermeasures, including capabilities intended to address drones controlled through cellular networks. The company has not identified the locations where the systems will operate.
“Drone threats are evolving quickly, and they are challenging the way we protect our forces, borders, and critical infrastructure,” CACI President and CEO John Mengucci said. “SkyValor gives defenders the advantage with earlier warning, faster decisions, and precise defeat of hostile drones with low-to-no collateral impact.”
Yuma Tests Preceded Contract
The counter-drone award follows a two-day operational evaluation that took place at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. Joint Interagency Task Force 401 conducted the testing in coordination with Joint Task Force-Southern Border and Customs and Border Protection. The evaluation placed the system against several drone flight profiles and assessed its ability to detect, identify, track and defeat targets at extended ranges.
The demonstration supported efforts to improve air-domain awareness along the border. Neither CACI nor the Pentagon has said whether the operational deployment will result in airspace restrictions or new notification procedures for lawful civil operators.
Recent Counter-Drone Incidents
The announcement follows a series of incidents earlier this year involving mistaken targeting using counter-drone systems. In early February, Customs and Border Protection personnel near El Paso reportedly used a laser-based system against what was initially described as a cartel drone but was later identified in multiple reports as a balloon. That incident prompted the FAA to briefly close nearby airspace. Later that month, military personnel near Fort Hancock, Texas, used a high-energy laser to bring down a CBP drone after it was mistaken for a threat, an incident attributed to a lack of coordination between the agencies.
The FAA and Pentagon later signed an agreement permitting high-energy laser counter-drone systems to operate along the southern border after a safety assessment found they could be used without increasing risk to civil aircraft. Officials said the approval followed a March demonstration at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and included additional operating controls.
The laser system covered by that agreement differs from SkyValor, which uses electronic countermeasures rather than directed-energy weapons to disrupt or defeat drones.
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