DHS Plans Experiment: Reconnaissance Drones on US-Canada Border

DHS and Canada’s defense research unit plan a November ACE-CASPER trial using autonomous drones over commercial 5G networks for border “emergency” scenarios.

A high-stakes drone test is taking shape along the US-Canada border, with the Department of Homeland Security aiming to prove that autonomous systems can keep streaming surveillance video and sensor data across the line—using commercial 5G networks.

The effort is being developed by DHS in partnership with Defense Research and Development Canada. and it is slated to run this fall.. A DHS call for participants frames the exercise. known as ACE-CASPER. as a multiday drill designed to simulate a national emergency response scenario.. Drones and ground vehicles are expected to relay live feeds to a bi-national command-and-control center as they cross the border.

In the planning documents. vehicle autonomy is described as secondary to the experiment’s core mission: demonstrating resilient. persistent 5G communications.. The emphasis matters because the test is not only about whether aircraft can fly or sensors can collect data. but whether that information can move reliably and continuously between the two countries when conditions are challenging.

Scheduled for November. the trials would mark a notable milestone for cross-border technology experimentation: it would be the first joint US-Canada border test of this kind in nearly a decade.. Between 2011 and 2017. the governments carried out five cross-border drills under a program called CAUSE. examining whether emergency responders on either side could share radios. video. and data.

While DHS’s materials are framed in the language of public safety—search and rescue and emergency response—they also describe several capabilities using martial terms.. Vendors are asked. for example. to demonstrate how autonomous vehicles could gather “real-time battlefield intelligence.” DHS also calls the aerial systems it seeks “Command and Control: Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance” platforms. or C2ISR. an acronym drawn from US Department of Defense terminology and linked in the documents to improving so-called “kill chains.”

Technically, the work is being communicated through government procurement channels.. DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced the drone trials, coordinating with Defense Research and Development Canada.. The directorate’s role is closely tied to domestic counter-drone work after a restructuring connected to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in 2025.

That same restructuring period has also shaped the broader procurement landscape around drones.. Last week. S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory launched a counter-drone purchasing tool intended to help police and emergency-response agencies in the Washington. DC. region. along with the 11 US states hosting FIFA World Cup matches this summer.. The border trial lands in this wider setting, where drone-related testing and buying mechanisms are being actively developed and deployed.

Beyond testing frameworks, the executive order package also prioritized procurement of American-made drones.. It reserved government contract opportunities for domestic manufacturers. a policy shift that the report notes is a major opening for the US drone industry.. That momentum is further connected to a Federal Communications Commission designation described as barring new foreign-made drones from US wireless networks. tightening how platforms can connect and operate within US communication systems.

Any companies positioned to participate in the November trials could face strong incentives. given how DHS is seeking systems designed to stream and relay sensor information over 5G.. The call’s requirements also heighten the stakes for partners that specialize in autonomous vehicles and intelligence-style sensing. even as the exercise is wrapped in emergency-response framing.

Powerus Corporation. a Florida-based drone manufacturer that recently merged with a golf course company with backing from Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.. is named as one example of a potential participant.. Powerus cofounder Brett Velicovich said the company welcomes DHS efforts to strengthen border security with advanced autonomous systems. adding that protecting American borders is the mission the technology was built for and that the company is encouraged by the government’s urgency.

Anduril Industries is another company referenced in connection with the call.. The report notes that Trump Jr.’s firm invested in Anduril last year. and that the company produces a range of drones oriented toward battlefield surveillance for the Pentagon.. It is also described as holding DHS’s largest border-security contract. a $1.1 billion agreement to deploy AI-powered surveillance towers along the southern border.

Other companies listed include Unusual Machines, an Orlando, Florida-based drone-components maker where Trump Jr.. previously served as an adviser and received stock that is described as worth roughly $4.4 million today.. A company spokesperson said Unusual Machines does not sell directly to the government. but does sell to suppliers that do—an important distinction in how parts and systems may enter government programs.

The report also points to Xtend, an Israeli drone maker backed by Eric Trump. It says Xtend opened a Tampa, Florida headquarters in summer 2025 and announced a multimillion-dollar contract from a Pentagon special-operations office last fall. Xtend declined a request for comment.

For US-Canada cooperation. the practical challenge is less about whether drones can technically capture data and more about whether communications remain dependable across national boundaries.. By centering the experiment on resilient. persistent 5G connectivity. DHS is effectively testing a shared operational capability: the ability for a bi-national team to maintain a common picture through live feeds as vehicles move.

There is also a broader implication for how governments evaluate and procure drone ecosystems.. The ACE-CASPER approach blends an emphasis on communications performance with a push to demonstrate sensor-and-intelligence workflows. which could influence what vendors prioritize—from data streaming durability to the integration of command-and-control architectures.

Even with the public-safety framing. the documents’ choice of language signals that DHS is looking at capabilities that resemble defense-style intelligence operations.. That tension—between emergency response simulation and intelligence surveillance terminology—may shape how procurement decisions are evaluated. and how future exercises along critical borders could be designed.

DHS drone experiment ACE-CASPER US-Canada border commercial 5G autonomous drones command and control counter-drone procurement