The US Army will test counter-drone equipment with soldiers in Tan-Tan, Morocco, in February and March 2027 and then assess the best of it during the African Lion exercise in April and May, under a program that aims to put emerging systems in soldiers' hands within 180 days. An Army statement published on 16 October 2026 describes the plan as a partnership between Southern European Task Force, Africa, known as SETAF-AF, and the Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate, G-TEAD.
The event, called an accelerated capability event, is the first of its kind for the Africa-focused command. Its target is protection of early-entry command posts and operating locations against Group 1 to 3 small drones, the quadcopters and fixed-wing aircraft that have become the standard threat to any unit that stops moving.
Five categories, up to 15 solutions
G-TEAD will validate up to 15 candidate systems with Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires as the transition partner. Major Katlin VanWye, the G-TEAD representative embedded with SETAF-AF, said the event is "structured around five capability categories": an integrated fly-away kit, plus detection of small drones, kinetic defeat, non-kinetic defeat and passive protection. Whatever is selected must plug into the Army's counter-drone command-and-control system, IBCS-M.
The three phases run from submission and preparation, through the soldier-led demonstrations in Tan-Tan, to operational evaluation at African Lion 2027, US Africa Command's largest joint exercise on the continent. This year's African Lion ran from 20 April to 8 May across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia with more than 5,600 personnel from over 40 nations, and already put a focus on autonomous and remote systems.
Fixing an old gap in how commands buy
G-TEAD sits under the Army's Pathway for Innovation and Technology and embeds small teams with the Army's service component commands, which traditionally had operational needs but no acquisition authority or research funding of their own. "ASCCs always had priorities, they've always had capability gaps," said Colonel Christopher Hill, the directorate's director. "Soldiers need capability."
A G-TEAD team was assigned to SETAF-AF in summer 2026. VanWye said the events are "driven by real, urgent, theater-specific technology gaps", translating a commander's priorities into technical requirements that industry can answer.
The 180-day goal is ambitious by Army standards, where fielding a new system usually takes years. It applies to the systems that pass the Tan-Tan demonstrations and the African Lion assessment; the statement does not name candidates or say which companies have submitted. Which layer stops the aircraft, and what proves it works, is the subject of Military Ledger's counter-drone explainer.
The Moroccan trials will be a useful watch for anyone tracking how fast the Army can move from a demonstration in the desert to equipment at a deployed command post. The first answer comes next spring.