U.S. Army Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division operate ground-based radar in Texas near the border in May 2025. The radar platoon monitored illegal migration and drug smuggling to assist Customs and Border Protection agents to secure the Mexico-U.S. border. U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND
United States Soldiers are tracking unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and illegal migration near the southern border, countering attempts by Mexican cartels that were recently designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO). A contingent of 10th Mountain Division Soldiers recently began operations to detect low-flying aerial threats and monitor migration patterns with ground-based radars, according to the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM).
The 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, northeast of Watertown in northern New York state, deployed to Arizona in February 2025. The radar platoon, assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 10th Mountain Division Artillery, 10th Mountain Division, is led by Capt. Christopher McNamara and forms part of the broader Joint Task Force-Southern Border mission. “The team’s primary role is to operate ground-based radars and feed critical intelligence to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),” stated a USNORTHCOM news release from an operating location in Rio Grande City, Texas, just across the border from Mexico.
The U.S. government continues to work with Mexico to develop counter UAS strategies to combat the increased use of drones by the cartels. These strategies along with monitoring by ground-based, highly mobile radar systems increase the effectiveness of CBP agents to locate and apprehend migrants. “We’re here to support CBP in every capacity, and we’ve had a great time working with them,” McNamara said in the release. “With the intel we gather, we make sure to supply them with information about things along the border so they can move and operate accordingly in their assigned sectors.”
Soldiers are using two types of radar, originally developed for the battlefield: the AN/TPQ-53 Quick Reaction Capability Radar, used to identify the origin and impact points of indirect fire such as rockets and mortars, and the AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar system, which tracks low-flying aircraft and drone activity across wide areas. The systems have been adapted for homeland defense, the release stated.
CBP has noticed a large increase in UAS use by the cartels for scouting out crossing points for migrants and drugs. Agents also have spotted drones carrying small explosives. The 10th Mountain Division Soldiers are trained to distinguish between normal border activity and illegal and dangerous actions. “It’s not an automated system, so there is a human element to it,” McNamara said. “We have to make determinations and distinctions about the data we receive and act accordingly. It can be difficult at times, given the sheer amount of data our system receives in a day.”
The platoon’s Soldiers and the U.S. military are gaining valuable insight into the use of radar to combat malicious UAS activity, McNamara said in the release. Those skills will come in handy in other potential conflicts, he said. “I see a lot of what’s happening in Ukraine right now — how they’re using drones daily to conduct warfare, do reconnaissance and take out high-value assets,” he said. “There’s a future in warfare where counter-UAS assets could play an even more critical role in defending forward operating bases and personnel.”
The unit’s mission is clear. “We’re defending both the American public and the American way of life,” McNamara said. “Using these systems to detect illegal activity ensures the border stays sealed, and the status quo is maintained. But really, I think our team’s primary motivation is helping to save lives and make America safer.”