1st Special Forces Command Tests Counter-Drone Systems With FPV UAVs at North Carolina Range

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gabriel E. Davis shows an unmanned aerial vehicle operator assigned to 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) releasing a UAV for a counter-drone flight demonstration at Ellerbe, North Carolina, on May 5, 2026, according to the May 13, 2026, CENTCOM release on DVIDS.

The demonstration used first-person view goggles to deliver real-time video from the drone's internal camera. The photo was altered to protect the operator's identity. The exercise forms part of ongoing counter-drone testing by the 1st Special Forces Command, the U.S. Army's principal special operations formation for unconventional warfare, direct action, and special reconnaissance.

The tests mark an operational shift from passive observation of small UAS threats to active flight profiling and defeat tactics. Prior counter-drone work relied primarily on ground-based sensors and electronic warfare systems; the May 5 event incorporated live FPV-controlled UAVs to replicate adversary systems now encountered by special operations teams in every theater.

Downstream effects include accelerated development of tactics, techniques, and procedures that will feed directly into updated training programs at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center. The data collected will inform requirements for next-generation counter-UAS materiel solutions that U.S. Special Operations Command must field to subordinate commands.

Congress receives annual briefings on these programs through the defense authorization process; test results will shape fiscal year 2028 budget requests for counter-drone procurement.

This demonstration continues a series of counter-drone activities that intensified after the Pentagon's 2023 establishment of the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office. The office coordinates efforts across services to address the proliferation of commercial and modified UAVs documented in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.

The 1st Special Forces Command operates as one of the Army's two special operations commands under U.S. Special Operations Command, which maintains persistent presence in all geographic combatant commands.