GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The Point Defense Battle Lab held a ‘red air’ Small Unmanned Aerial System pilot competition to train airmen assigned to the 319th Reconnaissance Wing as aggressor sUAS pilots April 25, 2026, here.
The PDBL is a Dept. of the Air Force Counter-sUAS effort tasked to develop tactics, techniques and procedures necessary for stateside Air Force installations to defend from aerial threats. The term red air refers to friendly forces who act as adversaries in exercise and practice scenarios to ensure readiness activities and current capabilities match existing threats.
“We want to have a deep bench of flyers to allow us to prepare for, defend against and defeat evolving threats,” said Colonel Reynaldo Champion, commander for the 319th Mission Support Group and director for the PDBL. “I want the airmen to know how important their role is in getting after Department of War priorities. They are helping in expanding tactics, techniques and procedures and developing what we learn so we may feed that directly into current operations.”
Small UAS, also referred to as drones, composes a rapidly evolving threat area as observed in recent conflicts. Initiatives like the PDBL’s red air team will allow Grand Forks AFB to exercise and practice realistic contingency scenarios in a controlled environment.
“I saw the way systems like these were being used in other conflicts around the world, and I saw the opportunity to do something with something I was interested in -- and I took it,” said Airman Dominic Franco, RQ-4 Global Hawk crew chief for the 319th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. “This is the coolest thing I have done in the Air Force, working with new technology and being a part of something that hasn’t been done before.”
Airmen participating in the competition underwent weeks of flight simulator training and a hands-on drone piloting course before the competition. Those who completed the training and successfully completed the competition will be leveraged to assist with future experimentation, evaluations of C-sUAS systems as well as assist the 319th RW Inspector General’s Office with combat readiness exercises and inspections.
“Overall, the red air competition served as both a showcase and a training opportunity,” said Master Sgt. Corey Turner, flight chief for the 319th Security Forces Squadron and red air lead for the PDBL. “It highlighted the emerging threat posed by sUAS while also demonstrating our operators’ ability to learn and apply adversary tactics to better defend against them.”
The PDBL is holding exercises through the end of 2026, airmen and commercial vendors interested in applying to participate in an exercise can get more information from the PDBL website https://www.grandforks.af.mil/Point-Defense-Battle-Lab/