U.S. Army Sgt. Brian Smothers assists Capt. Dorian Santiago, commander of the Annihilator Company Team, both with 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, assigned to Joint Task Force-Southern Border, assists in using a Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System to monitor the barrier near Bisbee, Ariz., May 7, 2026. (Dept. of War photo by Sgt. Jerron Bruce)
TAMPA, Fla. — The heads of US Special Operations Command and US Southern Command this week hit on a common need that each said they need to be ready for modern combat threats: more leeway to use test ranges that simulate contested environments.
“We have to develop ranges and places where we can test and evaluate, rehearse those highly choreographed maneuvers and projections in these new, contested environments. That’s not easy to do,” SOCOM Commander Adm. Frank Bradley told an audience of special operators and industry at SOF Week here on Tuesday.
“We’ve got all kinds of regulations here in the United States — and frankly, every nation does — to be able to control their electromagnetic spectrums and the interference that occurs,” Bradley added.
The next day SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Frank Donovan echoed the worry, saying the his command doesn’t “have training ranges right now that allow us to use these systems to any level of their capability.”
