The United States and Saudi Arabia have conducted the second iteration of Red Sands, a joint military exercise that aims to demonstrate counter-unmanned aerial system technologies.
The three-day drill, held at the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center in Riyadh, builds on the insights gained from the first Red Sands. The latest development sprint tested nine systems that use kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities to neutralize a drone threat.
“Rapid development sprints, as demonstrated in Red Sands 23. 2, allow us to tackle the most challenging military problems and realize solutions to emergent threats more rapidly than traditional development,” said Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, who was present during the demonstrations alongside Gen. Fayyad al-Ruwali, Saudi Arabia’s chief of general staff.
The experimentation represents the shared commitment between U.S. and Saudi forces to address the threat of UAS and promote regional security, he added.
The next iteration of Red Sands will build on the progress and knowledge gained from the 23.2 version of the exercise.
