The 1MDTF soldiers were joined by members of the Philippine Air Force, 960th Air and Missile Defense Group, who participated alongside their partners as part of the Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) program, and U.S. Marines with the 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion’s Ground-Based Air Defense Battery who employed the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) during this multi-day live-fire event.
“This is a great opportunity for joint training alongside our short-range air defense counterparts from the U.S. Marines,” said U.S. Army Capt. Bray McCollum, battery commander of 1-51 ADA’s Integrated Fires Protection Capability (IFPC) battery.
This is the first time the Army’s IFPC-HPM has been employed in the Indo-Pacific and tested in a tropical environment. This advanced equipment supports the U.S.-Philippine Alliance through enhancing combined military cooperation and advancing our shared commitment to a secure, stable, and free Indo-Pacific region for all.
The IFPC-HPM is a Directed Energy (DE) weapon system that emits a beam of microwave energy that can disrupt, disable, or destroy Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The IFPC-HPM is the first material released DE weapon system specifically designed to counter groups and swarms of drones. The 1st MDTF was the first unit to field the HPMs in February 2024 and has since been conducting tests across a range of environments.
In another first for the Indo-Pacific region, the IFPC-HPM and FS-LIDS were used together in a complementary system. FS-LIDS is another counter-UAS capability that has been operationally deployed in the middle east for the past decade. Together with the IFPC-HPM it can be used for the sensing, tracking, and disabling of UAS while allowing IFPC-HPM operators to gain positive identification of the UAS target using its electro-optical infrared camera. Both systems can be used to disable the targets. This creates a layered defense of non-kinetic effects to defeat small UAS.
“During this test, we were able to demonstrate that we can successfully defeat drone swarms in a tropical environment using layered effects,” said McCollum.
The results of the test will be analyzed by the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) who manage the development, prototyping, and testing of the Army’s Directed Energy weapons. The results will be used to improve the effectiveness in countering UAS swarms and help inform the Army’s future force requirements.
Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines learned about the IFPC-HPM and FS-LIDS as part of the SMEE program, strengthening their partnership with the U.S. and giving them the skills that could enhance their role in national defense.
“This is a great opportunity to show our Philippine Allies the cutting-edge capabilities that the U.S. Army has in development,” said McCollum, “This training demonstrates our commitment to strengthening our ties with our Indo-Pacific allies and partners.”
As a theater-level unit and joint force enabler, assigned to the Indo-Pacific, the 1st MDTF plays a vital role in synchronizing long-range precision fires layered with long-range precision effects to create multiple dilemmas and neutralize adversary anti-access and area denial networks. The MDTF’s proven innovation, agility, and lethality have led the Army to direct five full MDTFs in strategically significant locations worldwide.
Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability.
By MAJ Ian Sandall, 1st Multi-Domain Task Force
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