Hoeven: T-REX Event Exemplifies North Dakota’s Leadership in Drone & Counter-Drone

EMERADO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today marked the Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX) event in North Dakota, participating in the Distinguished Visitors Day at GrandSKY. T-REX is a Department of War (DoW) initiative launched in 2023 that is designed to accelerate the development, testing and fielding of emerging technologies by providing a structured framework for experimentation. Through this process, the Department works with industry partners to evaluate and refine capabilities in realistic operational environments, ensuring readiness and effectiveness for future missions. Hoeven began working on this effort last August, having recognized the potential for the T-REX model to be applied to the drone and counter-drone technology development in North Dakota. In a letter to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Hoeven outlined the value of the North Dakota National Guard (NDNG) and Camp Grafton for drone and counter-drone testing and training. Hoeven then convened a meeting in his office in November with senior DoW officials, George Rumford, head of the Test Resource Management Center, and Brigadier General Matt Ross, the commander of Joint Interagency Task Force 401, which is tasked with coordinating U.S. counter-drone defenses. During the meeting, the senator made the case for leveraging North Dakota’s unique unmanned aerial systems (UAS) ecosystem along with the T-REX process to meet the needs of U.S. warfighters. As a result, the senator was able to connect these officials with the North Dakota National Guard to begin making the arrangements for the event, which is being held at Camp Grafton and the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The two-week event comes as part of Hoeven’s broader efforts to expand North Dakota’s leadership in UAS and counter-UAS, building on initiatives Hoeven secured for the state, including: Project ULTRA – Hoeven established and funded Project ULTRA, which is working to quickly develop cost-effective measures to detect and neutralize threats from unmanned aircraft. Point Defense Battle Lab – Hoeven worked with Air Force leadership to advance Grand Forks’ selection for the battle lab , which will test and validate advanced technologies to defend installations from small, unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) threats. T-REX builds on Hoeven’s efforts to recruit companies to the region’s high-tech ecosystem. Hoeven stressed that T-REX provides a clear signal to private companies that North Dakota is the prime destination for developing, testing and evaluating drone and counter-drone technology. “T-REX exemplifies North Dakota’s leadership in drone and counter-drone, clearly demonstrating that our state has the capabilities needed to rapidly develop, test and evaluate these technologies to improve military readiness and give our warfighters the edge. That’s the case we made to Secretary Hegseth and his team, and we appreciate BG Ross and all of the officials at the DoW and the National Guard Bureau for working with us to make this two-week event a reality,” said Hoeven. “Just like with Project ULTRA and the Point Defense Battle Lab, this is an innovative approach to military technology development. We are developing new capabilities more quickly and at a lower cost to ensure we have the absolute best UAS tech and can meet emerging threats from our adversaries, including Iran and Russia.” -###-