‘Wake-up call': Ukraine drone strike exposes dangers to US aircraft

Yahoo

2 days ago

Ukraine's stunning drone strikes on Russian airfields are intensifying calls from military leaders and lawmakers in both parties to address gaping vulnerabilities in U.S. air bases.
Kyiv this week launched more than 100 drones inside Russia using artificial intelligence, a daring move that eviscerated five military bases and damaged more than 40 aircraft. Footage of Russian bombers and fighters erupting in flames while parked on open tarmacs rippled across the internet — and Washington.
While it was a significant blow struck by a U.S. ally, the attacks also laid bare how easily and cheaply uncrewed systems can cripple sophisticated air forces. Officials' concerns are particularly acute in the Pacific, where the U.S. is seeking to beef up its presence. Ukraine's success underscored how swiftly an adversary can destroy airpower with drones.
'It has to make you much more aware of how vulnerable we as a nation are,' said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), chair of the Appropriations subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, said in an interview. 'The Ukrainians defeated the Russian navy without owning any ships, and now they've decimated their air force with virtually no air force of their own.'
Lawmakers and military officials say U.S. aircraft are particularly vulnerable since they sit out in the open without protective cover. The strike could force a reassessment of the American military's defensive posture and spending priorities, including whether to invest in more counter-drone technologies, hardened aircraft shelters or camouflage.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin called the Ukrainian offensive a 'wake-up moment' and suggested it would impact defense budget conversations unfolding in Washington. 'Seemingly impenetrable locations, maybe, are not,' he said Tuesday at a Center for a New American Security event, noting the damage of $7 billion was eyebrow-raising. 'We need to pay more attention to that.'
The Air Force, in a statement, said its forces 'maintain a high state of readiness to defend against a range of threats,' including swarms of drones. The service is also developing capabilities to ward against future threats, the statement said, and investing in 'layered air and missile defense technologies, early warning systems, and rapid response protocols designed to detect, track and neutralize airborne threats.'
President Donald Trump is aware of the military's vulnerabilities and taking steps to fix them, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday during a press conference.
Plans for a massive Golden Dome missile shield were launched with this kind of threat in mind, she said. Trump 'has a full understanding … about the future of warfare and how drones are a big part of that.'
That is one of the reasons Trump 'wants the one big beautiful bill to be passed,' Leavitt said, referring to Republicans' tax and spending package that would pump $150 billion into Pentagon coffers.
The issue could reverberate through Congress' consideration of that megabill. Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) noted the bill includes more money for counter-drone defenses as demand for those capabilities skyrockets.
The military has considered the threat drones present to grounded aircraft long before the Ukrainian attack, he said. But the episode could focus public attention on concerns posed by cheap uncrewed technology.
"There's no doubt that we have a myriad of aircraft …. stored in facilities, really, that are designed to protect them from the weather and are not resistant to explosives like the ones the Ukrainians used,' Wicker said Wednesday during a Defense Writers Group event with reporters. 'It should be a wake-up call to the public. I'm not sure that it is much of a surprise to our military strategists."
The alarm is especially high in the Pacific, where U.S. bases sit within range of China's growing missile arsenal. A Hudson Institute report by Thomas Shugart and Timothy Walton found that China has built more than 400 hardened aircraft shelters — protective concrete bunkers designed to shield warplanes from missile and drone attacks — over the past decade. The U.S. has added just 22 in the region.
'Large numbers of American bombers sit open on the tarmac, just like the ones we saw in those videos,' Shugart, a former Navy officer, said.'There needs to be more robust measures than appear to be happening at this time.'
The worry is crossing partisan lines. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee, said the drone attack shows Ukraine is 'really in this fight' and validates a 'pressing concern' that the U.S. doesn't have enough counter-drone capabilities at home and overseas.
'I have been raising this and pressing this in every meeting with every senior military leader, how to speed up procurement, speed up deployment,' Coons said in an interview. 'This makes it clear that we face genuine risks from sophisticated drone attacks almost everywhere in the world.'
The attack is receiving particular attention in Virginia, a state with a heavy military presence.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the strikes a 'case study in battlefield innovation' that should prompt a reevaluation of the safety of U.S. bases.
'We have to do an awful lot to protect our infrastructure at home,' he said. 'I don't think we've figured out all the policies we need or the resources to implement them.'
Fellow Virginian and the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, said a national security professional sent him satellite images of American bases after the Ukraine attack with U.S. military aircraft sitting exposed.
'The Ukrainians are redefining warfare,' he said. 'We have to learn from this.'
Jack Detsch contributed to this report.