ThinKom Solutions in April said it is self-funding development of Alecto, a mobile high-powered microwave system to defeat drone threats. Photo: ThinKom

The Defense Department’s counter-drone task force on Wednesday evening announced that five U.S. locations have been selected to begin a pilot program later this year to assess the use of directed energy weapons against unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in different environments and mission sets. The ultimate aim of the effort is to speed the fielding of directed energy weapons (DEW) to protect critical infrastructure and military facilities for homeland defense against small UAS. The locations are Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and…