Inside Black Dart: How the military prepares for a future drone war.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* POINT MUGU, Calif.--On a strip of marshland abutting the Pacific Ocean, the buzz of drones could be heard flying overhead. In the adjacent flight line, a handful of unmanned aerial systems--ranging from a tiny hexacopter to a massive MQ-9 Reaper--waited their turns to take to the skies.

It was here at Naval Base Ventura County Sea Range that the Defense Department's largest live-fly, live-fire counter-drone demonstration took place in late July. The two-week long exercise, known as "Black Dart," drew about 700 military personnel and members of industry to test new anti-unmanned aerial vehicle technology.

High profile drone-related events around the globe--from an unmanned aerial vehicle crashing into the lawn of the White House to a mysterious remotely piloted aircraft flying around the Eiffel Tower--have thrown unmanned aerial technology, and some of the risks they pose, into the spotlight, said Air Force Maj. Scott Gregg, director of this year's Black Dart. The military is taking that potential threat seriously, he said.

"It's getting a lot of attention now, but it's something that DoD has been focused on for several years," he told members of the media. "We're concerned about it just like everybody else."

Black Dart started in 2002 under the Defense Intelligence Agency. In 2006 it was transferred to U.S. Northern Command, and then in 2010 to the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, its current operator.

"Initially, it started out as just a UAS development capabilities demonstration, and over time transitioned into a counter-unmanned aircraft systems technology demonstration," Gregg said. "Black Dart is probably a combination of technology demonstration, test and evaluation, and exercise. I'm not sure Black Dart neatly fits into any of those bins, but it's a little bit of everything."

Fifty-five systems were tested during this year's exercise--its 14th iteration--and 16 drone targets were employed. More than 100 sorties were flown, he said.

Black Dart was classified until its 2014 demonstration. Exercise coordinators opened it up to the media last year because they wanted the public to know the government is not only aware of the growing drone threat, but is actively working to mitigate it, he said.

"It's a burgeoning market and the threats keep expanding rapidly. Proliferation is expanding rapidly," Gregg said. Remotely piloted aircraft are "not just a military threat. It's not just used for military purposes anymore...