The U.S. Air Force is moving to equip the 621st Contingency Response Group at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, with up to 54 compact counter-drone systems to protect expeditionary airfields in austere and contested environments. The package combines passive radio-frequency detection, electronic-warfare disruption and close-range kinetic defeat for rapidly deployable Airmen supporting contingency air mobility operations worldwide.
The requirement starts with an initial need for 12 systems, alongside supporting detection, defeat and kinetic components, with options that could expand the total to 54 systems and 18 units in each support category. The equipment is designed to be lightweight, low-profile and man-portable, reflecting the mobility demands of the contingency response mission.
The 621st CRG is responsible for quickly deploying personnel to establish and sustain air mobility operations at forward locations. The procurement points to growing demand for layered counter-UAS capability at expeditionary airfields, rather than only at fixed bases, as the service looks to close protection gaps against small drones during field-opening operations.