Strong Celebrates Launch of FBI’s National Counter-Unmanned Training Centre at Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal
Center will train law-enforcement and security professionals in how to detect, assess and counter emerging unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threats
On November 7, 2025, U.S. Representative Dale Strong (R-AL5) joined officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, law-enforcement leaders and the first graduating class of trainees to celebrate the official ribbon-cutting of the new National Counter-Unmanned Training Center (NCUTC) at Redstone Arsenal.
The NCUTC is described as the first facility of its kind in the nation, dedicated to training law-enforcement and security professionals in how to detect, assess and counter emerging unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threats.
Congressman Strong called the Center “a major step forward in how we prepare our law-enforcement and security professionals to confront new and evolving threats.” He noted that over recent years he has worked to strengthen the national posture on counter-UAS, and he said those trained at the centre “will play a critical role in securing our homeland and protecting millions of Americans.”
He emphasized that creating the NCUTC is the result of long-standing bipartisan and bicameral efforts in Congress to adopt a unified national approach to counter-UAS training. Specifically, he said it ensures that federal, state and local officials “have access to advanced instruction and safe, effective tactics.”
Strong also highlighted how the new Center’s mission will support security preparations for major upcoming U.S. events—including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. “Redstone Arsenal continues to play a central role in our nation’s security mission … Now, through this center, that world-class expertise expands even further to safeguard our communities, infrastructure, and national events.”
The NCUTC follows Executive Order 14305, titled “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” signed June 6, 2025. That Order directed creation of a national training centre to train and certify law-enforcement and security personnel in the safe and effective use of detection and mitigation technologies, and established a federal task force to strengthen U.S. air-space security.
Modeled on the FBI’s Hazardous Devices School, the NCUTC will serve as the federal government’s primary training and certification hub for counter-UAS operations, and will play a key role in supporting security for major events to be hosted in the U.S.
Congressman Strong has introduced legislation to support this mission, including the National Training Center for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act in 2024, and reintroduced it earlier this year to promote a standardized approach to counter-UAS training. That measure was incorporated into H.R. 5061, the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act—a bipartisan effort to modernize and expand the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice authorities in this area.
