VDF supports Virginia National Guard-hosted Safer Skies conference

FORT PICKETT, Va. — Members of the Virginia Defense Force provide registration and access control support for the Virginia National Guard-hosted Safer Skies conference April 27, 2026, at Fort Pickett, Virginia. The VDF also assisted with planning and working group facilitation for the event where federal, state and local partners discussed joint counter-unmanned aircraft systems operations. State, local, tribal and territorial partners from across Virginia, as well as federal stakeholders, attended the two-day conference and tabletop exercise focusing on joint operations and capabilities defending against small UAS threats in planned and unplanned scenarios. The Safer Skies Act was passed into federal law in December 2025, expanding the authority for the use of C-UAS technologies to state and local governments, under federal oversight. View more photos on the VNG Flickr site at https://vdfpio.info/4cet9p6n.