The USA’s Department of Homeland Security to Test Autonomous Drones and Vehicles on U.S.-Canada Border
The USA The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in collaboration with Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC), is spearheading a groundbreaking initiative this fall. The plan involves deploying autonomous drones and vehicles along the U.S.-Canada border to test the effectiveness of streaming surveillance video and sensor data over commercial 5G networks between the two nations.
ACE-CASPER: A New Era of Cross-Border Collaboration
The DHS has issued a call for participants for this experiment, known as ACE-CASPER. This multi-day exercise is designed to “simulate a national emergency scenario” where drones and ground vehicles will transmit live feeds to a binational command and control center as they traverse the border. The primary focus of this initiative is to demonstrate “robust, persistent 5G communications,” with vehicle autonomy being a secondary objective.
The significance of the ACE-CASPER tests, scheduled for November, cannot be overstated. They represent the first joint cross-border technology exercise between the U.S. and Canada along their shared border in nearly a decade. From 2011 to 2017, five cross-border exercises under the CAUSE program were conducted to test the interoperability of emergency response systems across the border.
Testing Advanced Capabilities with Strategic Implications
While the primary focus of the experiment is public safety, search and rescue, and emergency response, the DHS has framed many of the capabilities in strategic terms. Providers are asked to demonstrate the capabilities of autonomous vehicles in collecting “real-time battlefield information.” The air systems sought are described as “Command and Control: Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance” platforms, or C2ISR, an acronym associated with enhancing military “kill chains.”
Procurement and Industry Involvement
The DHS announced the drone trials through government procurement channels via its Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in partnership with DRDC. The directorate is at the helm of the federal government’s domestic drone defense program, restructured under an executive order by former President Donald Trump in 2025. Recent initiatives include the launch of a drone countermeasures purchasing tool by S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory to assist law enforcement and emergency agencies.
This executive order also prioritized the procurement of U.S.-made drones, opening a significant market opportunity for the U.S. drone industry, further supported by a Federal Communications Commission designation barring new foreign-made drones from U.S. cellular networks.
Industry Players and Political Connections
The universe of companies capable of participating in the November trials includes vendors with prominent political connections. For instance, Powerus Corporation, a Florida-based drone maker recently merged with a company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is one candidate. Additionally, Anduril Industries, which has ties to Trump Jr., holds a significant $1.1 billion contract with DHS for AI-powered surveillance towers along the southern border.
Brett Velicovich, co-founder of Powerus, expressed support for DHS’s efforts: “Protecting America’s borders is exactly the mission for which our technology was designed, and we are encouraged that the administration is moving urgently in this direction.”
Other companies like Unusual Machines and Xtend, both with connections to Trump Jr., are also notable. Unusual Machines supplies parts to government contractors, while Xtend has established a presence in Florida and secured a multimillion-dollar contract with a Pentagon special operations office.
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