Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Grant Program

The Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Grant Program provides funding to strengthen capabilities for detecting, tracking, identifying, monitoring, and, where legally authorized, mitigating threats from unlawful or nefarious unmanned aircraft systems. The federal program was established under Section 90005(a) of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 2025 and is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The program provides $500 million over Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027, with up to $250 million available in each fiscal year. For FY2026, funding is prioritized for the 11 states directly or indirectly hosting FIFA World Cup 2026 events and the National Capital Region, which is hosting national America 250 events. Georgia is among the FY2026 jurisdictions and is administering its opportunity through the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. The program is intended to enhance public safety and homeland security capabilities against UAS threats. Eligible projects may support planning, organization, equipment, training, and exercises. Allowable activities include developing UAS response plans and standard operating procedures; conducting risk assessments; acquiring radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras, radio frequency detection systems, acoustic systems, Remote ID receivers, integrated multi-sensor systems, networking and sensor fusion technologies; purchasing eligible third-party data services; training personnel; and conducting exercises. Mitigation capabilities are subject to additional legal and operational restrictions and generally may only be authorized for law enforcement or correctional agencies with personnel trained or scheduled for training at the FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center. Weapons and weapons accessories, general organizational operating expenses, general-use equipment, unrelated activities, proof-of-concept initiatives, technology-development studies, and other specifically prohibited costs are not allowable. Indirect costs are not allowed, while eligible management and administration costs are permitted. There is no cost share requirement. At the federal level, State Administrative Agencies are the entities eligible to apply directly to FEMA. SAAs may make subawards to eligible local, tribal, and territorial government entities and qualifying public safety organizations. For the Georgia-administered FY2026 opportunity, eligible applicants include Georgia city and county entities. This structure means Georgia local entities participate through GEMA/HS rather than submitting directly to FEMA. Subrecipients must comply with applicable federal and program requirements. Additional requirements apply to mitigation technology, including FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center training or scheduled training, appropriate federal coordination, legal compliance, operational-use documentation, and ongoing certification that grant-funded equipment is actively deployed for its intended public safety or security purpose. GEMA/HS announced that the Georgia application period would open by November 14, 2025 and required applications to be received by November 25, 2025. Applications are accepted online through the Georgia EM Grants Manager at ga.emgrants.com. GEMA/HS also scheduled an applicant webinar for November 14, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and invited eligible applicants to register their interest through hsgrants@gema.ga.gov. The webinar is informational rather than a required pre-application gating step. Applicants seeking funding to purchase a small unmanned aircraft system, or drone, must follow the formal DHS/FEMA HSGP drone request process and are directed to contact GEMA/HS for the applicable requirements. Federal application and project requirements demonstrate the level of information expected for C-UAS investments. Proposed projects must describe operational need, threats, vulnerabilities or capability gaps; explain the proposed project and implementation approach; provide a timeline; demonstrate how the project will improve UAS detection, tracking, identification, response, or authorized mitigation capabilities; and include a detailed budget and justification. At the federal review level, projects are evaluated for eligibility, completeness, feasibility, program alignment, risk, and effectiveness. The technology effectiveness scoring framework favors appropriately authorized mitigation capabilities, radar, electro-optical or infrared capability, passive radio-frequency direction finding, Remote ID capability, a complete detect-track-identify chain, deployment and connectivity planning, qualifying wide-area services, operator readiness, new or enhanced capabilities, timely implementation, and support for NSSE, SEAR 1, or SEAR 2 events. FIFA World Cup and national America 250 event support is a major FY2026 priority. The Georgia FY2026 application deadline of November 25, 2025 has passed as of the analysis date, and the supplied Georgia materials do not state that this state-level application cycle recurs annually or provide a future Georgia application date. Therefore, the opportunity is treated as no longer accepting applications rather than as an anticipated recurring round. The broader federal C-UAS program covers FY2026 and FY2027, but the federal NOFO states that FY2027 details will be determined and shared later; that statement does not establish another Georgia local application cycle or deadline. At the federal level, the projected period of performance runs from July 4, 2025 through September 30, 2028. For questions about the Georgia opportunity, applicants may contact GEMA/HS at hsgrants@gema.ga.gov or 404-635-7095. The federal NOFO also provides FEMA Grants News at fema-grants-news@fema.dhs.gov and 800-368-6498 for general federal grant information.

Align the project directly with documented C-UAS threats and capability gaps; clearly explain the detect-track-identify capability and how proposed technologies integrate; document deployment connectivity training and operator readiness; provide a realistic implementation schedule; projects supporting qualifying FIFA World Cup or other NSSE/SEAR 1 or 2 events receive substantial scoring consideration at the federal level; do not propose mitigation without required federal authorization legal compliance planning and FBI NCUTC training; ensure all requested costs are allowable and directly connected to program objectives