The US Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) has become a primary test and training hub for countering small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS) since August 2025, according to an army press release.
With this designation, YPG will focus on the interagency testing of Class I and II sUAS across the military service. Meanwhile, larger drones will mainly be tested at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
This development came around the same time as the creation of the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) in August, where the JIATF is tasked to lead the rapid development and deployment of counter-drone capabilities across the military.
Both efforts align with the Pentagon’s broader program to counter fast-evolving drone threats under the Replicator 2 initiative, formally launched in September 2024.
Yuma Proving Ground
Located in Arizona, the YPG has an ideal environment for aviation testing as it features 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of restricted desert airspace and a stable climate.
It is also capable of hosting electronic background noises — such as radio signals and microwave oven radiation — that are necessary for the accurate evaluation of counter-drone systems.
“Counter-UAS has a lot to do with electronic warfare, and the counter-improvised explosive device mission was at YPG for two decades during the War on Terror,” said Col. John Nelson, YPG Commander.
With around eight decades of UAS testing and experience in assessing counter-drone technologies, YPG has accumulated and developed different instrumentation, test methodologies, and data analytics to support testing.
Moreover, YPG hosted semiannual industry demonstrations for solutions that defeat small drones, including kinetic, electronic warfare, or hybrid weapon systems.
James Amato, Executive Technical Director for the Army Test and Evaluation Command, noted that he expects the “workload to be so great that we’ll continue to use multiple test centers to be able to accomplish that mission at the speed and scale” intended by the Pentagon.
