NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon Is Stumped. U.S. officials don’t know who is behind the drones that have flown unhindered over sensitive national-security sites—or how to stop them.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.
Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.
For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.
The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.
The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port.
Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.
Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat. Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.
The Ukrainians may have thoughts on how to stop unwelcome drones.
Meanwhile, via email, some thoughts from Josh Trevino:
Now, this is not new news to those paying attention. The War Zone has been covering drone-swarm harassment / overflight of U.S. military assets and bases in the United States for years now, to the extent that they have a whole story category on it.
What is happening is that the story is moving into mainstream press as the problem worsens. A few notes on this:
First: the WSJ story amply illuminates the profoundly stupid bureaucratic bumbling in the USG response to this, which is characteristic of states that do not wish to survive. Consider this passage:
“Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall convened the White House brainstorming sessions. One official suggested using electronic signals to jam the drones’ navigation systems. Others cautioned that it might disrupt local 911 emergency systems and Wi-Fi networks. One suggestion was to use directed energy, an emerging technology, to disable or destroy the drones. An FAA official said such a weapon carried too high a risk for commercial aircraft during the December holiday travel season. Others suggested that the U.S. Coast Guard shoot nets into the air to capture the drones. An official pointed out that the Coast Guard might not have the authority to use such a weapon in this instance.”
Second: when the big war kicks off, these swarms will be delivering munitions directly onto the targets they now only surveil, and in fact the practice for that mission is likely why they conduct operations now. This is a solid and cost-effective alternative to developing a strategic-bomber force.
Third: the likely bases for these operations are not exactly hard to discern. You have offshore platforms. You have unused or unmonitored land within the United States. And you have Mexico.
Fourth: it is probably mostly the PRC, which further illuminates the sheer insanity of allowing PRC nationals to work, study, and live in the United States.
Fifth: if you wanted further evidence that the United States Armed Forces is not really in the business of protecting the United States as such, well, here you go.
All this is very bad and a bill will come due.
Well, with half our political class on the Chinese payroll, I’m not betting on prompt action.
