NDAA gives new counter-drone office veto over service programs, official says

Project Flytrap, held in Poland in July 2025, brought together soldiers from the U.S. and U.K. to test new C-UAS technologies and tactics. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Saunders)

By Sydney J Freedberg Jr • Dec 16, 2025

The annual defense policy bill gives the Pentagon’s new counter-small-drone task force extraordinary authority over acquisition programs across the armed forces — including the power to set technical standards, run field tests, and, if a system doesn’t pass muster, forbid the armed services from acquiring it, said a senior officer from Joint Interagency Task Force 401.

“The acquisition authority that we now have is the [National Defense Authorization Act],” said Col. Jonathan “Hammer” Beha, JIATF-401’s chief of requirements, data analysis, and training. The colonel, an Air Force electronic warfare (EW) officer, was speaking to the Association of Old Crows EW conference Dec. 10, the same day the bill passed the House. (Senate approval is likely this week).

While the Pentagon still has to write its internal policy on how to implement the NDAA, Beha continued, “I’ll tell you my interpretation of that law is that we won’t let a service procure something that doesn’t perform, and if they want to, JIATF-401 gets to say no.”