DHS to Test Reconnaissance Drones Along US-Canada Border
▼ Summary
– The US Department of Homeland Security and Defense Research and Development Canada plan to test autonomous drones and vehicles along the US-Canada border this fall, using commercial 5G networks to stream surveillance video and sensor data.
– The experiment, called ACE-CASPER, will simulate a national emergency response scenario, with the primary goal of demonstrating resilient 5G communications rather than vehicle autonomy.
– These would be the first joint US-Canada cross-border technology tests in nearly a decade, following the CAUSE program from 2011 to 2017.
– DHS describes the capabilities in martial terms, asking vendors to demonstrate “real-time battlefield intelligence” and using the military acronym C2ISR, linked to improving “kill chains.”
– Companies with ties to Donald Trump’s sons, such as Powerus Corporation and Anduril Industries, are among those positioned to respond to the call for the November trials.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is partnering with Defense Research and Development Canada to test autonomous drones and ground vehicles along the US-Canada border this fall. The trials aim to determine which systems can successfully stream surveillance video and sensor data between the two nations using commercial 5G networks.
A newly released DHS solicitation frames the exercise,designated ACE-CASPER,as a multiday drill simulating a national emergency response scenario. During the test, drones and unmanned ground vehicles will relay live feeds to a bi-national command-and-control center as they cross the border. The document emphasizes that vehicle autonomy is secondary to the experiment’s core objective: demonstrating “resilient, persistent 5G communications.”
DHS and DRDC did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Scheduled for November, these trials would mark the first joint US-Canada cross-border technology experiment along their shared boundary in nearly a decade. Between 2011 and 2017, the two governments conducted five similar drills under a program called CAUSE, testing whether emergency responders on both sides could share radios, video, and data across the border.
While the exercise is framed around public safety, search and rescue, and emergency response, DHS describes many of the capabilities in martial language. The agency asks vendors to demonstrate, for example, the ability of autonomous vehicles to gather “real-time battlefield intelligence.” The aerial platforms are referred to as “Command and Control: Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance” systems,or C2ISR,an acronym borrowed from the U. S. Department of Defense, typically linked to improving “kill chains.”
DHS announced the drone trials through government procurement channels managed by its research arm, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in partnership with DRDC.
S&T sits at the technical core of the federal government’s domestic counter-drone program, following a restructuring under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in 2025. Last week, the directorate’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory launched a counter-drone purchasing tool designed to guide police and emergency-response agencies in the Washington, D. C., region,and the 11 U. S. states hosting FIFA World Cup matches this summer.
The same executive order prioritized procurement of American-made drones and reserved government contract opportunities for domestic manufacturers. That market opening was further widened by a recent Federal Communications Commission designation barring new foreign-made drones from U. S. wireless networks.
The pool of companies positioned to respond to the November call includes several vendors with ties to the president’s elder adult sons.
Powerus Corporation, the Florida-based drone manufacturer that recently merged with a golf course company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is one. Anduril Industries, in which Trump Jr.’s own firm invested last year, produces battlefield surveillance drones for the Pentagon and holds DHS’s largest border-security contract: a $1.1 billion agreement to deploy AI-powered surveillance towers along the southern border.
“Powerus welcomes any effort by DHS to strengthen border security through advanced autonomous systems,” Powerus cofounder Brett Velicovich told WIRED. “Protecting American borders is exactly the mission our technology was built for, and we’re encouraged to see the government moving urgently in this direction.”
Unusual Machines, an Orlando, Florida, drone-components maker where Trump Jr. previously served as adviser and received stock now worth roughly $4.4 million, does not sell directly to the government, a company spokesperson told WIRED, but does sell to suppliers who do.
Xtend, the Israeli drone maker now backed by Eric Trump, opened a Tampa, Florida, headquarters in summer 2025 and announced a multimillion-dollar contract from a Pentagon special-operations office last fall. Xtend declined WIRED’s request for comment.
(Source: Wired)