Saratoga, N.Y. - Today, House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) sent a letter to Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll expressing their support for the Army's Memorandum of Agreement between the 10th Mountain Infantry Division at Fort Drum, U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (DEVCOM AC) and Picatinny Arsenal, to establish a Close Combat Innovation Cell (CCIC).
"The CCIC will allow DEVCOM AC and the DEVCOM AC Accelerated Capabilities Team (ACT) to develop new systems in close coordination with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum and Picatinny Arsenal to ensure the technologies it develops are useful to the warfighter in complex battlefield environments," Chairwoman Stefanik and Representative Kean wrote. "One of the first innovation projects under the CCIC is set to be Project STARLING. This project will develop, produce, and field up to 100 3D-printed small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for employment within a light infantry brigade combat team. The goal of these systems is to expand the tactical reconnaissance and targeting capabilities of the 10th Mountain Division.”
This letter follows Chairwoman Stefanik’s September advancement of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 in which she secured numerous provisions to support Fort Drum, the 10th Mountain Division, Upstate New York and North Country military families, and our national defense.
Read the letter HERE.
