The tests demonstrated the system’s ability to respond to drone threats with defensive drone swarms.
The trial, conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, reflects growing U.S. efforts to build an affordable short-range air defense system against the rapidly expanding threat posed by unmanned aerial systems.
The evaluation showed how autonomous interceptor drones could counter multiple airborne threats at a lower cost than traditional air defense weapons. As drone warfare continues to reshape modern battlefields, systems like CURTAIN CALL could strengthen force protection, improve base defense and provide a scalable response to mass drone attacks.
The CURTAIN concept is aimed at one of the most pressing challenges facing modern militaries: protecting fixed sites and deployed troops from low-cost drones used either individually or in coordinated swarms. Traditional air defense systems, designed mainly to counter aircraft, helicopters and missiles, often struggle to provide a cost-effective response to small drones. That financial imbalance is especially sharp when expensive interceptor missiles are used to destroy cheap commercial or modified military drones.
To address that problem, AFRICOM’s innovation team chose a different approach based on autonomous defensive drone swarms. Under the CURTAIN CALL architecture, sensors and cameras continuously monitor the airspace and automatically detect potential threats. Once an enemy drone is identified, the system immediately alerts a human operator, who retains final decision-making authority. After approval, a swarm of defensive drones is launched to create an interception barrier that neutralizes or disrupts incoming threats before they reach protected assets.
The testing campaign also collected engineering data on swarm response and system limitations. Rather than focusing only on successful interceptions, AFRICOM used the event to identify technical gaps that could affect future operational deployment.
Current counter-drone solutions often rely on combinations of electronic warfare systems, kinetic interceptors, directed-energy weapons and traditional air defense tools. While those systems are effective in some scenarios, they can face limits in cost, scalability or performance against large numbers of small targets. CURTAIN CALL is intended to add a new defensive layer that mirrors the threat itself — using drones to destroy drones — potentially offering a more economically sustainable approach to protection.
Although the system remains experimental, the results suggest drone-based air defense could become a practical and affordable addition to existing short-range air defense networks. If future tests confirm the system’s effectiveness under more realistic operational conditions, CURTAIN CALL could give the U.S. military a scalable answer to one of the fastest-growing threats on the modern battlefield.
Earlier, NV Tech reported that the Pentagon had purchased armed robotic dogs from an Australian firm. Training for U.S. troops and field testing of the systems are expected to begin in the fall.
The $6.5 million contract went to Skyborne Technologies. The deal covers 14 CODiAQ unmanned systems and 28 modular launch units. They will be evaluated by U.S. Special Operations Command together with an allied country.