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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
No ‘silver bullet' against a drone attack like Operation Spider's Web
Ukraine's audacious drone strike on Sunday that may have destroyed several Russian strategic bombers has confirmed long-held fears about first-person view drones, or FPVs, being launched from commercial containers for a surprise attack. Videos purportedly show the Ukrainian drones being launched from trucks parked near their targets thousands of miles inside Russia. Dubbed Operation Spider's Web, the attack was 18 months in the making and involved 117 Ukrainian drones launched against four airfields. Ukraine's intelligence service claims the FPVs were smuggled into Russia, where they were hidden in the roofs of wooden sheds, which were placed on trucks. Then the trucks were driven near the Russian airfields and the drones were launched remotely. Ukraine's attack has revealed that military installations far from the front lines can still be vulnerable to drone attacks. It also comes as the U.S. military struggles to prevent drone incursions at its bases. In 2024 alone, there were hundreds of incidents involving drones flying over military bases within the continental United States and Alaska, Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said in February. 'There were 350 detections reported last year on military installations, and that was 350 over a total of 100 different installations of all types and levels of security,' Guillot told the Senate Armed Services Committee. It's possible for an adversary to launch drones against military installations in the United States in the same way that Ukraine attacked Russian bases, said Masao Dahlgren, who writes about missile defense for the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C. 'That's an assumption that we are far from the adversary, we have oceans separating us, that we're somehow far away from these threats,' Dahlgren told Task & Purpose. 'But as these kinds of incidents show, that threat is not as far as we would like to think.' Despite the urgent need, the U.S. military has not yet invested enough in low-altitude drone defenses to protect its bases at home from an attack by FPV drones, Dahlgren said. For the most part, military installations, cities, and critical infrastructure within the United States are not protected by weapon systems designed to destroy drones, such as the Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System, or LIDS, Dahlgren said. The U.S. military typically deploys those types of weapons overseas because it remains focused on defeating enemy air forces instead of protecting against drone attacks launched from concealed locations. Right now, stateside military bases may be equipped with jammers and other 'soft kill' methods to stop drones, but the Defense Department needs to rapidly field more drone defenses to protect the United States as a whole, Dahlgren said. The U.S. military needs to use both aircraft and balloons equipped with sensors to counter drones because the radars that monitor U.S. airspace are not ideal for detecting low-altitude threats, as evidenced when a man managed to land a gyrocopter in front of the Capitol building in 2015, Dahlgren said. Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, acknowledged that it carried out the operation, codenamed 'Spider's Web' and said it had caused considerable damage, estimated at $7 billion — Reuters (@Reuters) June 2, 2025 'The No. 1 problem in my mind is sensors,' Dahlgren said. 'These targets fly low, and if your radar, your sensor, is on the ground, you're not going to see them come over the horizon. They literally can fly under the radar until they're quite close.' In recent years, the U.S. military has been preparing to defend against small unnamed aerial systems. For example, the Army has updated the capstone event of basic training to teach soldiers how to conceal themselves from drones. While certain stateside military installations, such as nuclear missile bases, are well protected, service members at other bases wouldn't be able to do much to respond to the type of surprise drone attack that was planned over many months, like Operation Spider's Web, a former senior Defense Department official told Task & Purpose. Task & Purpose asked each of the military branches about Operation Spider's Web — specifically focusing on what countermeasures or steps could be taken to prevent a similar strike against U.S. bases at home and abroad. 'The U.S. Army actively monitors all modern warfare developments, including the recent drone attacks reported in Russia over the weekend,' said Army spokesperson Maj. Montrell Russell. 'Our primary focus is protecting our homeland, personnel, and critical assets. We regularly update our training and defensive measures to address evolving threats from unmanned aerial systems. While specific tactics cannot be disclosed for security reasons, the Army is committed to ensuring our forces are prepared for current and emerging challenges.' The Marine Corps has already fielded several systems to its installations that are designed to track, identify and defeat small drones as part of its preparations to defend airfields and other critical infrastructure against drone attacks, said Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman for Combat Development and Integration. Other drone countermeasures include the vehicle-mounted Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, Flanagan said. The Marine Corps is also developing a Light-MADIS, or L-MADIS, for Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicles. The Marines also announced earlier this year that deploying units would be equipped with prototype systems meant to counter small drones. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said on Tuesday that the service has budgeted money to add protections to its bases, but he added that the service needs to do more. 'We could really make it very defensible, but if all we're doing is playing defense and we can't shoot back, then that's not a use for our money,' Allvin said while speaking at a conference held by the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C. Allvin also said the Air Force needs to think about the offensive potential of small drones, noting that Operation Spider's Web has shown that 'seemingly impenetrable locations need to pay more attention to that.' Officials with the Navy deferred questions on the matter to NORTHCOM. A NORTHCOM spokesperson described the threat that small unmanned aircraft pose to military and civilian infrastructure as 'serious and growing.' The command has fielded mobile systems to help detect and neutralize drones; bolstered drone defenses at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and Fort Bliss, Texas; and it continues to test new technologies, such as at the Desert Peak exercise this April at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, as part of the U.S. military's ongoing mission along the southern border. Russian investigators have questioned the drivers of the trucks from which drones were launched during a large-scale attack on military targets. From Russian media:'One of the drivers, a 55-year-old man from Chelyabinsk named Alexander Z., said that the truck belonged to a… — Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) June 2, 2025 'We remain clear-eyed about the need to further increase our collective ability to defend installations and infrastructure against an increasing range of potential threats,' the spokesperson said. Ultimately, there is no 'silver bullet' to the threat posed by drones, said retired Army Maj. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, former commanding general of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The threat posed by drones requires a response from the entire government, including the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Aviation Administration, and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, Shoffner told Task & Purpose. Drones come in many different shapes and sizes, each with its own physical and electronic signature, Shoffner said. They also use a variety of methods to navigate, requiring different types of defenses. Some drones, for example, are guided by fiber optic cables, making them difficult to counter using electronic means. 'What we want are multiple lines of defense,' Shoffner said. 'We want to intercept the threat as far out as possible and as soon as possible.' The threat posed by small drones is so serious that it could change how the U.S. military approaches air defense, Dahlgren said. 'We used to consider air defense its own specialty in the armed forces,' Dahlgren said. 'You'd have like — you're an air defender. But now everyone has to be. So, there's going to be a lot of change in the pipeline, I hope.' One way of getting that sort of expertise into the 'pipeline' could be to have training that requires U.S. troops to identify and defeat short-range quad-copters through a combination of signals intelligence, electronic warfare and weapons that can destroy small drones, said Samuel Bendett, a drone expert. Ukraine's attack on Russia also shows what can happen when aircraft are not parked in protected hangars, and are then vulnerable to attacks from small drones, said Bendett, an advisor to the Russia Studies Program at CNA as a Washington DC-based not-for-profit research and analysis organization. 'This attack is probably a wake-up call for many militaries that station their long-range heavy aircraft on the open tarmac across their bases,' Bendett told Task & Purpose. 'Russian mil bloggers also pointed out that they called out the MOD [ministry of defense] for failing to keep such strategic planes in hangars, or under, even with rudimentary physical protection.' Navy SEAL Team 6 operator will be the military's new top enlisted leader Veterans receiving disability payments might have been underpaid, IG finds Guam barracks conditions are 'baffling,' Navy admiral says in email Navy fires admiral in charge of unmanned systems office after investigation The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
OK To Shoot Down Cartel Drones Flying Over Border Sought By NORTHCOM Boss
The general in charge of defending U.S. skies from drone incursions wants the authority to be able to shoot them down near the Mexican border. Current law greatly restricts U.S. military counter-drone responses, which you can read more about in our deep dive here. Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot testified to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that since President Donald Trump took office, he 'proposed…a change to the rule of force.' It would 'allow us to shoot down or bring down drones that are surveilling over our deployed and mobile troops…not just that are in self-defense, but anything that's surveilling and planning the next attack on us within five miles of the border.' 'Because they're mobile,' U.S. troops on the border are not allowed to take down drones under current law, Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), added. His testimony came as Mexican drug cartels have been steadily increasing their use of weaponized uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), as well as unarmed types for surveillance and smuggling. The issue has been so concerning that the U.S. Army recently deployed ground-based radars along the border to help spot and track drones as part of the continued build-up of U.S. military support there. You can read more about that in our in-depth story here. The Trump administration has made border security one of its major priorities. The issue of drones flying over the border is not new. As we have reported in the past, pilots have reported seeing and having near misses with them in the skies near Arizona ranges and military bases for years. Guillot also repeated his call to enable all Continental U.S. bases to take action against drones. He also wants to increase the range those actions can take place. At present, only about half of the 360 bases in the U.S. – considered 'covered installations' – even have permission to defend against drones. 'We're working with the services and with the [Defense] Department to increase not only the capability but also to expand the authorities,' Guillot explained. 'We have to knock out not only aircraft or UAS that are a direct threat, but also that are surveilling over the installation. I'd like to even see it expanded beyond the installation to ensure they can't see anything sensitive on our bases.' Expanding the perimeter where counter-drone actions can take place also increases the chances of identifying and capturing the drone operators, Guillot explained. Guillot testified that he wants increased ability to take action granted under a federal law known as '130(i).' The subsection of Title 10 of the U.S. Code (10 USC 130i) covers current authorities for the 'protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft,' including through the use of kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities. It contains a number of specific stipulations and where and when those authorities can actually be employed, which you can read more about here. Any change in those authorities, which Congress is considering, would be on top of the Pentagon's counter-drone strategy released in the last days of the Biden administration, which you can read more about here. As we previously reported, the U.S. is not fielding kinetic and directed energy capabilities, such as laser and high-power microwave weapons, surface-to-air interceptors, and gun systems, to defend domestic bases and other critical infrastructure from rapidly growing and evolving drone threats. Instead, the focus is on electronic warfare and cyber warfare, and other 'soft-kill' options, at least for now. The legal and regulatory hurdles limiting how and when counter-drone systems of any kind can be employed within the homeland are confusing even to the military and first responders. Amid the frenzy of drone sightings reported over U.S. military and power facilities that we were the first to report about last November, runways at Stewart Airport in upstate New York were shut down because of a drone incursion in December. The airport is also home to an Air National Guard Base. 'Several very, very sizable drones came within 25 feet of our C-17 fleet,' said U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan during Tuesday's hearing. Ryan said there was confusion at the time about how to respond. Base officials 'still don't have full clarity on authorities,' Ryan stated, adding that Stewart also lacks 'the tech and some of the other support pieces that they need.' During the drone incursions over Langley Air Force Base in December 2023, which The War Zone was the first to report on, base officials were not given the authority to respond, the Congressman representing that district stated during the hearing. The drones over Langley 'weren't trying to hide anything,' said U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA). 'I felt bad for the base commander because he wanted to do something and wasn't getting backing from folks up the chain of command. We had a bunch of resources there where we could do things. None of those were used. If it wasn't for NASA Langley next door, we wouldn't even have the sensors to be able to sense those unmanned aerial systems…' That lack of response sent the wrong message to foreign adversaries who observed it, Wittman complained. 'I believe that our adversaries are probing, trying to figure out what we can do, what we can't do, and that's very telling to them what they saw that day or what they saw over that month,' he explained. 'It was very telling to them that there wasn't the type of reaction that was necessary.' In the wake of the Langley incursion, NORTHCOM asked for and received 'responsibility to synchronize the DOD and if necessary, inter-agency response to counter UAS incursions,' Guillot told Wittman. 'During that time we conducted three assistive responses where we can use our new responsibilities to bring capabilities on a base similar to what you saw at Langley.' He did not elaborate where or when those responses took place. NORTHCOM later told us Guillot was referring to Edwards Air Force Base,Vandenburg Space Force Base and Picatinny Arsenal. While it is up to the military services and installations to defend the bases from drones, NORTHCOM is looking to surge counter-drone equipment to assist them in what Guillot calls 'flyaway kits' that include counter-drone equipment and the personnel to operate it. 'We don't have those kits yet, but we're in the process of acquiring' them, he told committee members. Guillot's testimony and statements by legislators further highlight concerns about dangers posed by drones that The War Zone has been making for years. We laid out a detailed case through dozens of reports that adversaries were taking advantage of the lack of aerial domain awareness over and above the homeland. The issue has been complicated by the fact that unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), are also tied up in this deeply. You can read all about this here. Congressional interest in mysterious UAS flying in the skies was further fueled by the so-called Jersey Drone craze. It began with sightings over Picatinny Arsenal and spread throughout the region to the point where the FBI fielded more than 5,000 reports. TWZ saw no evidence of large-scale drone incursions over New Jersey, with a chronic issue of people reporting normal aircraft as mysterious drones being glaringly apparent. The Biden administration repeatedly stated that there was no foreign connection to any of these flights. The Trump administration ultimately told the public that these drones were largely FAA-authorized or research-related. During this period, U.S. air bases in England experienced a week-long spate of drones flying overhead, which The War Zone was also first to report. The origination of those drones and identity of their operators remains publicly unknown. The Congressional reaction to Guillot's testimony seemed to heavily favor giving him more authority to shoot down drones near the border as well as all U.S. military installations. Given our long and leading interest in this topic, we will continue to monitor that progress. Contact the author: howard@
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon announces coordinated border patrols with Mexican military amid push for immigration control
The Pentagon announced coordinated patrols with the Mexican military on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border on Wednesday, as the Trump administration continues to implement a robust border security policy. The announcement, which was published by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on Wednesday, noted that U.S. Northern Command General Gregory M. Guillot and Mexican General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo recently met "to discuss cooperation on security along the Mexico and U.S. border." "The engagement resulted in the formulation and signing of a Joint Statement of Understanding regarding cooperative activities along the border," the statement continued. "General Trevilla and General Guillot agreed to conduct coordinated patrols on their respective side of the border, increase information sharing, and establish methods for immediate communications," the Pentagon added. Trump's Ice Racks Up Hundreds Of Arrests, Including Illegal Immigrants Arrested For Horror Crimes The DoD also noted that the deal "emphasizes that each country will respect the sovereignty of the other." Read On The Fox News App "Both leaders expect their agreement will serve to enable further conversations and coordination in greater detail at varied levels to ensure the mutual security of the border," the statement concluded. 'Prompt Removal': Trump Dhs Expands Expedited Deportation Powers As Operations Ramp Up The agreement comes roughly one month after President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 and began an overhaul of the U.S.'s border security policies, drastically decreasing the number of apprehensions at the border. A senior official told Fox News Digital that the average number of gotaways at the southern border plummeted to just 132 per day in February, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office. Increased law enforcement at the border has also invited unwanted interactions with Mexican cartel members. This month, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) helicopter was targeted by a laser from the Mexican side of the border. In January, suspected cartel members fired at Border Patrol agents near the border, just days after Trump took office. Fox News Digital's Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner contributed to this article source: Pentagon announces coordinated border patrols with Mexican military amid push for immigration control
Fox News
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Pentagon announces coordinated border patrols with Mexican military amid push for immigration control
The Pentagon announced coordinated patrols with the Mexican military on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border on Wednesday, as the Trump administration continues to implement a robust border security policy. The announcement, which was published by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on Wednesday, noted that U.S. Northern Command General Gregory M. Guillot and Mexican General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo recently met "to discuss cooperation on security along the Mexico and U.S. border." "The engagement resulted in the formulation and signing of a Joint Statement of Understanding regarding cooperative activities along the border," the statement continued. "General Trevilla and General Guillot agreed to conduct coordinated patrols on their respective side of the border, increase information sharing, and establish methods for immediate communications," the Pentagon added. The DoD also noted that the deal "emphasizes that each country will respect the sovereignty of the other." "Both leaders expect their agreement will serve to enable further conversations and coordination in greater detail at varied levels to ensure the mutual security of the border," the statement concluded. The agreement comes roughly one month after President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 and began an overhaul of the U.S.'s border security policies, drastically decreasing the number of apprehensions at the border. A senior official told Fox News Digital that the average number of gotaways at the southern border plummeted to just 132 per day in February, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office. Increased law enforcement at the border has also invited unwanted interactions with Mexican cartel members. This month, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) helicopter was targeted by a laser from the Mexican side of the border. In January, suspected cartel members fired at Border Patrol agents near the border, just days after Trump took office.
