Army to lead Joint Interagency Task Force 401, consolidating Replicator 2 and DoD counter-drone programs

Army to lead Joint Interagency Task Force 401, consolidating Replicator 2 and DoD counter-drone programs

Published:

September 12, 2025

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Updated:

September 12, 2025

Missiles / Drones / Directed Energy

Lucas Meyer

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Maurion Moore

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Army to establish a new joint interagency task force to speed delivery of counter-drone systems across the U.S. military. The entity, designated Joint Interagency Task Force 401, will sit under the Deputy Secretary of Defense and carry authorities that go beyond prior coordination bodies.

In a short video message, Hegseth said the department is “moving fast, cutting through bureaucracy,” and empowering the new team to outpace hostile unmanned systems. Defense officials confirm the directive was issued late last week and circulated in a formal memo.

The order names Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll as the official responsible for standing up JIATF 401. His office now has immediate timelines to meet, and early actions include staffing the director’s core team, securing workspace, and reporting initial budget needs. Public statements from the Army and Pentagon align on those points.

JIATF 401 authorities and reporting line

The memo places JIATF 401 directly under Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg, which gives a clear chain for decisions and oversight. The task force director receives acquisition and procurement authority and can use special hiring paths to bring in technical talent. The goal is to shorten the time between requirement, test and fielding.

The order sets a ceiling of up to 50 million dollars per individual counter-UAS effort that the director can approve. Industry sources report that this level of delegated authority cuts the queue for near-ready systems already proven in operational assessments.

Feinberg, confirmed in March as the 36th deputy secretary, serves as the department’s chief operating officer. Emil Michael, the department’s chief technology officer and head of R&E, sets tech priorities and recently took added oversight of the Defense Innovation Unit after its director left. Their roles will intersect with JIATF 401 as it pulls RDT&E workstreams together and ties them to rapid procurement.

Disestablishment of JCO and consolidation of Replicator 2

JIATF 401 replaces the Joint Counter-small UAS Office as the Pentagon’s central node for counter-drone coordination.

JCO, formed in 2019 under Army lead, evaluated systems and issued recommended solutions lists but never held the purse strings for department-wide buys. Hegseth’s order disestablishes the office as JIATF 401 assumes its role and pushes decision-making closer to acquisition and deployment.

The department will consolidate Replicator 2, its campaign to counter small drones at and around military sites, under JIATF 401. The task force will coordinate with DIU to direct Replicator 2 funding and task orders. This puts rapid commercial evaluations in one office that can award, buy and field fast. Recent updates on Replicator confirm a second line of effort focused on defenses against small uncrewed aerial systems. The initial push emphasized massed autonomous platforms.

Pentagon briefings and trade studies over the past year have repeatedly flagged small drones as a persistent problem set for fixed sites and deployed units. The department codified that view in late 2024 through a classified counter-unmanned systems strategy, which remains the policy anchor for today’s actions. JIATF 401 now acts as the implementing arm for the counter-UAS slice of that strategy.

Funding actions during the first 60 days and FY26 submissions

Within 30 days, the task force director must submit unfunded requirements for fiscal 2026 to the comptroller. Within 60 days, the comptroller and the department’s cost assessment and program evaluation office will prepare a plan to reallocate funds into JIATF 401 from other accounts. The intent is to seed early buys, bridge near-ready prototypes into production and unify sustainment budgets for fielded systems where joint commonality exists.

The memo calls for multi-year, flexible funding across research and development, procurement and operations and maintenance. The change would enable longer-horizon orders and reduce lurching between annual increments for munitions, sensors or jammers that need steady throughput. Congressional analysts recently highlighted Replicator’s funding posture and the scrutiny it will face, in line with the department’s push to present clean, auditable lines for counter-UAS.

Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus said the service seeks flexible lines for UAS, counter-UAS and electronic warfare in the FY26 request. He stated that the aim is to move faster in a space where threat adaptation hasn’t let up.

Staffing, facilities, and near-term deliverables

The task force director receives hiring authority for all personnel actions tied to JIATF 401. The first build includes a technical lead and four specialists sourced from the department’s Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratories. Each military department must detail four people with counter-UAS experience and provide a status update to the secretary within 30 days.

The Army and Washington Headquarters Services have one month to secure classified office space in or near the Pentagon so the team can start work without delay. Facilities staff are already surveying suites that meet the requirement, according to internal briefings reviewed by this publication. At the same time, the task force must submit an initial unfunded requirements package for FY26 and line up contract actions for early program tranches.

The department’s CTO, Emil Michael, must deliver within 30 days recommendations for a dedicated counter-UAS test and training range. The range allows rapid cycles to evaluate sensors, effectors and kill-chain software in realistic conditions. The task fits his R&E portfolio and his temporary oversight of DIU.

Driscoll has 30 days to submit an implementation plan that lays out resources, structure and the authorities JIATF 401 needs to execute at speed and scale. The cost assessment and program evaluation office must confirm resourcing through the FY27 Program Budget Review, which locks planning assumptions for the next cycle. These steps put the task force on a clock, not an open-ended staff study.

The directive gives operators and acquisition staff defined roles and avoids overlap with service programs of record, including those inside the U.S. Special Operations Command. Where programs already deliver, the task force coordinates and uses joint purchasing leverage. Where gaps remain, JIATF 401 can fund, test and buy. With the memo’s early deadlines, this model should be testable within months.

The department’s previous counter-UAS structure informed these choices. Over five years, JCO curated recommended systems lists, ran industry demonstrations and helped standardize doctrine and training. It lacked the final signature authority to compel joint buys. The new construct closes that gap by giving approval power and budget tools to a single office with a direct line to the deputy secretary.

According to industry sources, immediate priorities likely include layered defenses for fixed sites, mobile protection for maneuver units and common command-and-control software that connects sensors and effectors from different vendors. Field commanders have asked for shorter setup times, simplified rulesets for engagement, and reliable identification tools to sort friend from foe in crowded airspace.

The creation of JIATF 401 lands inside a fast-moving personnel picture as well. Driscoll has been in office since February and now carries responsibility for both stand-up and early execution. Feinberg’s team runs overall department operations, including budget moves. Michael’s portfolio spans research, prototyping, and now interim leadership of DIU. The lines of effort meet at the task force doorway, which may reduce duplicate work across offices that operate in the same threat area.

REFERENCE SOURCES

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3986597/dod-announces-strategy-for-countering-unmanned-systems/

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4289575/hegseth-calls-for-anti-drone-task-force/

https://media.defense.gov/2025/Aug/28/2003790021/-1/-1/0/ESTABLISHMENT-OF-JOINT-INTERAGENCY-TASK-FORCE-401.PDF

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2025/08/28/pentagon-forms-new-task-force-to-fast-track-counter-drone-capabilities/

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/08/task-force-401-army-to-lead-on-countering-small-uas-tech-with-buying-power/

https://www.army.mil/article/288199/hegseth_calls_for_anti_drone_task_force

https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/4122887/hon-steve-feinberg/

https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/4232659/emil-michael/

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2025/08/26/pentagon-cto-to-oversee-defense-innovation-unit-following-becks-exit/

https://www.diu.mil/replicator

https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF12611/IF12611.9.pdf

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