Anti-Drone ‘Cope Cage’ on CJNG Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicle (IAFV) Engaging SEDENA Forces in Jalisco
C/O Futures Cartel Research Note Series
Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan
27 November 2023
In a recent engagement on Sunday 19 November 2023 between the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the Mexican Army (SEDENA) in Teocaltiche, Jalisco, a CJNG improvised armored fighting vehicle (IAFV) was recovered with an anti-drone ‘cope cage’ welded over the front cab and hood of the vehicle. This is the first known incident in which a ‘cope cage’ has been seen fitted onto a Mexican cartel IAFV. This defensive measure is intended to protect a fighting vehicle from top-down attack by providing standoff protection by means of missile and bomblet pre-detonation. Given that the Mexican Army does not field weaponized drones with aerial bombardment capability (or, for that matter, IED point detonation), this represents a defensive TTP being used as a counter to opposing Mexican cartel drone combat capabilities which are proliferating.
