Drones, the Air Littoral, and the Looming Irrelevance of the USAF

[daftandbarmy]

Also, there may be differences in jurisdiction - quite possibly the USAF security forces couldn’t legally do anything in that case.

Correct...

The MoD 'owns' the bases, which is why they are named as 'RAF' bases, so are responsible for their security.

UK military joins hunt for drones near US airbases​

RAF Mildenhall is primarily home to the USAF's 100th Air Refuelling Wing; RAF Lakenheath is home to USAF F-35A and F-15E fighter jets; and RAF Feltwell is mainly concerned with logistics and provides housing for military personnel.

A spokesman for the MoD, which owns the bases, said: "We take threats seriously and maintain robust measures at defence sites.

"We are supporting the US Air Force response."

New drone activity reported near Suffolk and Norfolk US airbases

There are fresh reports of drone activity near USAF installations in Norfolk and Suffolk.

www.bbc.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Is a Foreign Adversary Flying Drones over New Jersey?

A congressman says it’s Iran. Former officials believe it’s Chinese drones. The Free Press investigates the mysterious sightings.

www.thefp.com

What to Know About the Mysterious Drones Flying Over New Jersey

The craft are said to be the size of an SUV, and have been observed flying in groups.

www.theepochtimes.com

And an earlier Jersey scare.

The World's Greatest Broadcast in New Jersey History - War of the Worlds - Mr. Local History Project

On this day on the evening of October 30, 1938, radio listeners may have tuned into the Columbia Broadcasting System's "Mercury Theater on the Air". If they missed the disclaimers or tuned in late, they would have believed Martians had landed in Grovers Mill (West Windsor Township), #NewJersey.

www.mrlocalhistory.org

...

Kidding aside --- there does seem to be an awful lot of uncredited "drone" activity being reported across North America, often with respect to naval vessels and military installations.

 

[Kirkhill]

V-BAT Drone Has Proven Its Ability To Operate In Heavily-Contested Skies

Branded Content: Head of Shield AI’s aircraft engineering talks about V-BAT's missions in Ukraine and its steadily advancing capabilities.

www.twz.com

Shield AI’s novel vertical take-off and landing V-BAT drone is growing in stature, with steadily increasing orders, a new variant, and most notably with a recent series of successful missions flown over Ukraine. While in that war zone the drones were able to deliver reliable effects despite operating in the most dense electronic warfare combat environment in the world.

V-BATs were initially tested in Ukraine in June 2024 to evaluate how they performed in the face of just this kind of enemy interference. According to a Ukrainian report the V-BATs were able to operate unhindered, even when they flew very close to Ukrainian jamming systems. A follow-up battlefield experiment in Ukraine in August saw V-BATs locate Russian surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries before relaying targeting data back to Ukrainian forces so that M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HiMARS, could attack and destroy the SAM sites.

“There are three basic methods that we consider relevant in terms of survivability in a contested environment,” Harris explains. “The first is to be faster than everybody else, which is what the SR-71 Blackbird did – it could outrun the interceptors. The west has also invested heavily in stealth designs to avoid a platform being targeted by radar, but that has resulted in platforms becoming dramatically more expensive over time. The third way, and part of the rationale behind V-BAT, is to be more numerous than your opponent.”

“In the Cold War it was all about mass. Then it evolved to be about exquisite capabilities. Now, the technology has evolved again, and we are right back at mass again, and that’s really been enabled by autonomy. The fundamental limiters were cost and the number of trained pilots, and not wanting to put those highly trained pilots at risk. Today, with the ability to operate autonomous aircraft, it unlocks mass once again.”

The commentator is

Armor Harris is Shield AI’s vice president of aircraft engineering, where he leads the development of V-BAT. Harris came to Shield AI from SpaceX, where he was the responsible engineer for developing the propulsive landing capability on Falcon 9 and was also head engineer for the Starlink satellite constellation.

Shield AI and Kratos

Shield AI Achieves Groundbreaking Collaborative Multi-Jet Aircraft Autonomy in Kratos MQM-178 Firejet Flight Test Event - Shield AI

Shield AI, Inc., the technology company building the world’s best AI pilot, completed a major milestone on the path towards its overarching goal of providing autonomy for the world by successfully demonstrating its first-ever multi-jet autonomy flights on two Kratos MQM-178 Firejets.

shield.ai

Shield AI Awarded Contract to Integrate Hivemind AI Pilot onto eighth aircraft: the Kratos BQM-177A - Shield AI

A $1,000,000 platform that can launch from anywhere, carry multiple ISR payloads in EW contested environments, operate in swarms and port munitions.

VBAT is a candidate for Battalion UAV and for the RCN.

 

[Kirkhill]

And a new Counter-Drone strategy

This Is The New 'Counter-Drone Strategy' Just Unveiled By Pentagon

The new Pentagon strategy is an important acknowledgment of growing drone threats but also highlights long-standing lag in addressing them.

www.twz.com

To this end, the fact sheet lays out five specific “strategic ways” that are central to how the Pentagon will seek to address drone threats through its new strategy, which are as follows:

• “Deepen our Understanding and Awareness of Unmanned Systems Trends and Threats. The Department will ‘sense and make sense’ of threats that unmanned systems pose, including by gaining a greater understanding of unmanned systems threats and by improving the ability of our operational forces to detect, track, and characterize these threats.”
• “Disrupt & Degrade Unmanned Systems Threat Networks. The Department will address the threat networks that drive the development and proliferation of unmanned systems whenever possible, including by launching and executing deliberate campaigns to counter these networks, in partnership with other U.S. departments and agencies.”
• “Defend Against Unmanned Systems Threats to U.S. Interests. The Department will adapt fully to defending against unmanned systems as a core element of warfighting, including by: improving our active and passive defenses; clarifying, streamlining, and delegating authorities, as needed; and institutionalizing approaches across doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities, and policy.”
• “Deliver Solutions with Greater Speed, Adaptability, and Scale. The Department will deliver robust counter-unmanned systems at speed and scale, including by leveraging rapid acquisition approaches; prioritizing integrated, open, modular solutions; employing systems engineering and predictive analytics; reducing the cost imbalance between unmanned systems and countermeasures; expanded budget agility; increasing experimentation; creating conditions for rapid and realistic testing; and maximizing exportability, co-development, and co-production of capabilities with our closest allies and partners.”
• “Develop & Design the Future Joint Force for Unmanned Systems-Driven Ways of War. The Department will make countering unmanned systems a key element of our thinking about future force development and design, including by pursuing changes to our force structure, employing our forces differently, and seeking technologies that could enable us to offset adversary advantages.”

Counters.

The senior U.S. official specifically highlighted Raytheon’s Coyote, Anduril’s Roadrunner, and systems that use BAE Systems’ laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS) rockets as effectors as examples of current kinetic counter-drone capabilities. They also mentioned work to better optimize other existing weapon systems, such as radar-guided Hellfire missiles and traditional surface-to-air interceptors, for use against uncrewed aerial systems. Multiple branches of the U.S. military are known to be actively developing and working to field laser and high-power microwave-directed energy weapons as additional options for physically destroying drone threats. Non-kinetic defeat capabilities primarily consist of various electronic warfare systems.

 

[daftandbarmy]

And a new Counter-Drone strategy

This Is The New 'Counter-Drone Strategy' Just Unveiled By Pentagon

The new Pentagon strategy is an important acknowledgment of growing drone threats but also highlights long-standing lag in addressing them.

www.twz.com

Counters.

Doesn't seem to be working yet

‘We know nothing’: Mysterious drones over New Jersey baffle Homeland Security​

Something very strange is happening in the skies over New Jersey, leaving everyone — from residents to police to the FBI — puzzled over what they’re witnessing.

A state lawmaker who was briefed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Wednesday, confirmed reports of large mysterious drones flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks, but said they appear to avoid traditional methods of detection, like radio and helicopter.

The sightings of the drones began rolling in on Nov.18, according to New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, and have been spotted almost every night, with anywhere from four to 180 sighting reports per night.

In a lengthy post to X, Fantasia described the drones as up to six feet in diameter and sometimes travelling with their lights switched off.

‘We know nothing’: Mysterious drones over New Jersey baffle Homeland Security - National | Globalnews.ca

Officials attempting to track the large drones report that they immediately 'go dark' when monitoring efforts are made.

globalnews.ca

 

[dimsum]

And a new Counter-Drone strategy

This Is The New 'Counter-Drone Strategy' Just Unveiled By Pentagon

The new Pentagon strategy is an important acknowledgment of growing drone threats but also highlights long-standing lag in addressing them.

www.twz.com

Counters.

Doesn't seem to be working yet

‘We know nothing’: Mysterious drones over New Jersey baffle Homeland Security​

To clarify, those counters (minus the lasers and HPMs) are used outside CONUS. They have not been used inside North America yet.

Somewhat ironically, Americans get a little antsy when the idea of kinetic things bringing down drones in the US is brought up.

 

[Kirkhill]

Doesn't seem to be working yet

‘We know nothing’: Mysterious drones over New Jersey baffle Homeland Security​

Something very strange is happening in the skies over New Jersey, leaving everyone — from residents to police to the FBI — puzzled over what they’re witnessing.

A state lawmaker who was briefed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Wednesday, confirmed reports of large mysterious drones flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks, but said they appear to avoid traditional methods of detection, like radio and helicopter.

The sightings of the drones began rolling in on Nov.18, according to New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, and have been spotted almost every night, with anywhere from four to 180 sighting reports per night.

In a lengthy post to X, Fantasia described the drones as up to six feet in diameter and sometimes travelling with their lights switched off.

‘We know nothing’: Mysterious drones over New Jersey baffle Homeland Security - National | Globalnews.ca

Officials attempting to track the large drones report that they immediately 'go dark' when monitoring efforts are made.

globalnews.ca

New spokesman

 

[Kirkhill]

To clarify, those counters (minus the lasers and HPMs) are used outside CONUS. They have not been used inside North America yet.

Somewhat ironically, Americans get a little antsy when the idea of kinetic things bringing down drones in the US is brought up.

From The War Zone article posted

Note the phrase "at least under current authorities".

That individual also acknowledged that the counter-drone capabilities that can be employed in a conflict zone are very different from the ones that would be usable, at least under current authorities, domestically within the United States. The aforementioned drone incidents in the United Kingdom have highlighted how similar rules and regulations are at play when it comes to domestic drone defense in other countries.

At a counter-drone demonstration event called Falcon Peak 2025 in October, U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) Deputy Test Director Jason Mayes explicitly told The War Zone and others that kinetic and directed energy capabilities are not currently on the table for defending military bases and other critical infrastructure within the U.S. homeland. A mix of often convoluted legal, regulatory, and other challenges are central to all of this, as you can read more about here.

“The homeland is a very different environment in that we have a lot of hobbyist drones here that are no threat at all, that are sort of congesting the environment. At the same time, we have, from a statutory perspective and from an intelligence perspective, quite rightly, [a] more constrained environment in terms of our ability to act,” a third senior U.S. official on today’s call elaborated. “When we think about the [new counter-drone] strategy, … it’s really trying to make sure that we are making a conscious effort to mitigate the threat in the homeland today, and the unique ways in which it manifests in the homeland, but also looking forward in time.”

“And so, we’re doing things like making sure that our people have the right training. So it’s not just about the equipment, but it’s about are we organizing and training the way that we need to ensure that our commanders on the ground understand how to make a great risk calculus in the homeland for the unique risks that we have here,” they continued. “We have a lot of installations that are in … areas where we have to be very careful about collateral effects. And do we have the organization that we need to be able to rapidly respond, given the capabilities that we’re building today and [that] we’ll continue to build to meet the threat of all for the future?”

That official used the drone incursions over Langley Air Force Base last year as a specific of what the new counter-drone strategy, as well as NORTHCOM’s new synchronizer role, are meant to address.

“What we had before this was … a not necessarily in the operational chain ability to talk to each other, to find out who had what systems that might be able to be brought to bear,” they explained. “And so I think that would be a huge … new organizational ability to be able to drive action.”

“As time moves on, we will have more standardized, coordinated education and training so that commanders will all have a baseline knowledge of what their authorities are and how they’re able to engage,” they added. “It’s also going to mean that for facilities that may not currently be covered by 130(i), but are eligible, that we’re going to have somebody who’s really looking to make sure everyone’s getting covered.”

“130(i)” here refers to that subsection of Title 10 of the U.S. Code (10 USC 130i), which 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.

A full list of the kinds of “action” authorized under 10 USC 130i. Cornell Law School
The strategy notably does not explicitly call for an expansion to 130(i) or ask for any other new authorities. Members of Congress have been separately pushing to expand the authorities available to the U.S. military and other government agencies to tackle drone threats, particularly within the U.S. homeland.

“I think our view is that we are using those authorities to their fullest, but we’re working to improve the collaboration that we have with our interagency partners,” one of the senior U.S. officials said today. “That’s an important part of how those authorities are [employed].”

In the U.S. homeland context, even incidents that occur in relatively confined areas can easily span multiple federal, state, local, and other law enforcement jurisdictions outside of the purview of the Department of Defense. There is also the potential for an international component, especially in instances that involve the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

I am going to suggest that regardless of what effectors may be in place, and regardless of the rules of engagement, at very minimum every potential target is going to be under surveillance with a variety of sensors and will be under the control of a local air space co-ordinator.

I am also going to suggest that when the niceties of peace-time are stripped away, and concerns over the sensibilities or hobbyists are set aside, the array of effectors employed domestically is going to increase significantly.

If that day were to be tomorrow....

“When we think about how we defend against this … it’s really a layered defense with a variety of sensing – everything from RF to active and passive radars,” another senior U.S. official said during today’s press call when asked for more details about existing counter-drone capabilities and future plans. “And then … there’s a variety of defeat systems, kinetic and non-kinetic.”

“When we talk about this threat, you have to consider … the size of the threat. A small UAS [uncrewed aerial system] is a little bit different threat than the larger UAS threats that you tend to see going on with events in Ukraine and Israel,” they added. “So there’s a different set of options that you have to have, but we are looking at the span of everything from non-kinetic to kinetic to new capabilities such as directed energy.”

The senior U.S. official specifically highlighted Raytheon’s Coyote, Anduril’s Roadrunner, and systems that use BAE Systems’ laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS) rockets as effectors as examples of current kinetic counter-drone capabilities. They also mentioned work to better optimize other existing weapon systems, such as radar-guided Hellfire missiles and traditional surface-to-air interceptors, for use against uncrewed aerial systems. Multiple branches of the U.S. military are known to be actively developing and working to field laser and high-power microwave-directed energy weapons as additional options for physically destroying drone threats. Non-kinetic defeat capabilities primarily consist of various electronic warfare systems.

Rheinmetall Defense has introduced another variant of its Skyranger air defense weapon system, the Skyranger 30 HEL – a mobile, hybrid solution mounting the company’s 30mm AHEAD with a laser onboard.

The Skyranger 30 HEL is designed to thwart the full range of current and future airborne threats as a hybrid solution. The interplay of a 30mm automatic cannon, guided missiles, and a high-energy laser (HEL) results in a mix of effectors unique in this combination.

Rheinmetall Introduces Skyranger 30 HEL – a Hybrid Air Defense Vehicle with Missiles, Gun and Laser - Defense Update:

Rheinmetall Defense has introduced another variant of its Skyranger air defense weapon system, the Skyranger 30 HEL - a mobile, hybrid solution mounting the company's 30mm AHEAD with a laser onboard. As a hybrid solution, the Skyranger 30 HEL is designed to thwart the full range of current and...

defense-update.com

Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall is specialised in customized solutions for tactical and operational air defence networks with multi-spectrum sensor netting.

www.rheinmetall.com

Or perhaps something more like this as a local backstop

 

[Kirkhill]

The civilians are getting antsier...

Governor of New York doesn't like her airspace being blocked by drones. And these are just unarmed (as far as we know) drones effectively conducting a denial of service campaign.

New York governor calls for federal assistance after mysterious drones shut down airport runways​

Mysterious drones in New York temporarily shut down runways at an Orange County airport, a frustrated governor said, calling for federal assistance and declaring that "this has gone too far."

The New York Stewart International Airport was forced to close runways Friday night for about an hour "due to drone activity in the airspace," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

In a statement Saturday to NBC New York, the Federal Aviation Administration said it slowed air traffic temporarily late Friday night "due to multiple reported drone sightings near and over the airport."

The agency said there have been no safety impacts to aircraft.

The airport received a report of a drone sighting from the FAA around 9:40 p.m. Friday, said a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The runways reopened at 10:45 p.m., the spokesperson said. The closure did not impact flights.

MSN

 

[dimsum]

The civilians are getting antsier...

Governor of New York doesn't like her airspace being blocked by drones. And these are just unarmed (as far as we know) drones effectively conducting a denial of service campaign.

MSN

Thing is, if it’s blocking active runways then it’s illegal due to flight safety. Otherwise, if it’s flying below 400’ AGL in non-restricted airspace, it’s completely legal.

Another issue is that many of the things that can take down drones are also not great for aircraft in the area.

 

[daftandbarmy]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[dimsum]

 

[dimsum]

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Meanwhile in China

 

[Kirkhill]

Another call for a Drone Corps. This time the proponent is a US Army Cavalry Lt Col.

Imagining a US Army Drone Corps - Modern War Institute

In February 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of the Unmanned Systems Forces. It is no secret that the Ukrainian military has used drones to great effect. Its […]

mwi.westpoint.edu

His prescription seems to fall somewhere between the WW1 Machine Gun Corps and the modern DivArty.

He splits his world between drone experts and "additional duty operators".

The experts would be responsible for training the "additional duty operators" and devising the Drone Plan. They would also be responsible for manning separate drone elements as manoeuvre elements.

He is explicit that the drone is not revolutionary but it is an enduring enabler that adds another manoeuvre tool to the tool box.

 

[Kirkhill]

A bit of a humorous take on the Jersey Drones.

Drones on the Loose — Global Security Review

Strategic Adversaries Deterrence

globalsecurityreview.com

....

 

[GR66]

China is buying one million kamakaze drones with delivery by 2026. How's our AD procurement going???

China places massive order for kamikaze drones

A Chinese drone manufacturer has disclosed a massive government order for almost a million lightweight kamikaze drones, to be delivered by 2026. The revelation, shared during a conversation with Defence Blog, highlights China’s rapidly expanding investment in unmanned aerial systems and their...

defence-blog.com

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Ukrainian Drone Regiment. I suspect there are some lessons to be learned there

Don's Weekly, 23 December 2024: Part 4, Magyar's Birds

by Donald Hill

xxtomcooperxx.substack.com

 

[Kirkhill]

An unmanned combined arms assault

Ukraine launches robot-only assault against Russian troops for first time

Kyiv pushes back military forces with remote-controlled vehicles mounted with machine guns and kamikaze drones

www.telegraph.co.uk

Ukraine launches robot-only assault against Russian troops for first time​

Kyiv pushes back military forces with remote-controlled vehicles mounted with machine guns and kamikaze drones

Joe Barnes Brussels Correspondent

24 December 2024 6:01am GMT


Ukraine mounted its first robot-only assault on a Russian position pushing back military forces despite being heavily outnumbered.

Kyiv’s forces used dozens of remote-controlled vehicles mounted with machine guns as well as unmanned kamikaze drones in the raid near the Ukrainian-held town of Lyptsi, the Ukrainian military said.

The assault also used aerial surveillance and mine-laying drones in supporting roles.

Volodymyr Dehtiarov, a representative for Ukraine’s Khartiia Brigade, said: “We are talking about dozens of units of robotic and unmanned equipment simultaneously on a small section of the front.”

With Kyiv struggling to overcome crippling manpower shortages, its armed forces have often placed faith in experimental armed robots in an attempt to turn the tide of war.

In some areas of the battlefield, Russia has a three-to-one advantage in manpower.

Ukraine is known to have deployed vehicles with robotic machine guns, mine layers and electronic warfare systems which minimise human involvement on the battlefield.

But the assault by the 13th National Guard Brigade is the first example of a robot-only combined-arms manoeuvre.

The brigade is responsible for defending a five-mile stretch of the frontline near Hlyboke, a Russian-held town in the Kharkiv region, about five miles south of the border.

Russia has four regiments attempting to advance in the area, meaning Ukraine is countering around 6,000 troops with just 2,000 men.

Mr Dehtiarov said the assault had been a success, although The Telegraph could not independently verify the claims.

Footage released by the Brigade showed pilots operating Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from inside a command centre.

Several screens displayed live feeds of the battlefield, provided by cameras mounted on drones and robotic ground vehicles, giving those in the command centre several views of the combat from the safety of their hidden bunker.

The pilots use controllers, which don’t look much different to those you would find with a games console, to direct the drones and UGVs and use them to Russian positions.

The UGVs, which typically look like mini-tanks with mounted machine guns, attack the positions head-on while kamikaze drones loaded with explosives crash into the Russian soldiers from above.

Other first-person view support drones hover over the battlefield transmitting live video back to the command centre to provide a bird’s-eye view, or drop mines along Russian avenues of retreat to inflict even more damage on the enemy.

The Institute for the Study of War wrote in a recent report: “Ukrainian officials have repeatedly highlighted Ukraine’s efforts to utilise technological innovations and asymmetric strike capabilities to offset Ukraine’s manpower limitations in contrast with Russia’s willingness to accept unsustainable casualty rates for marginal territorial gain.”

Mick Ryan, a former major general in the Australian army, said: “The Battle of Lyptsi is an important step in the transformation of the character of war from a purely human endeavour to something quite different in the 21st century.

“But none of the battlefield functions envisioned for uncrewed systems will be effective without the transformation of military institutions that wish to use them. This includes armies but also the civilian bureaucracies that support them.”

A similar, but smaller, example of robot warfare was reported recently from Kursk, the Russian region partially occupied by Ukrainian forces.

Kyiv’s men deployed “Fury” – a four-wheeled robot mounted with a machine gun – was used to clear a trench.

Footage of the raid appeared to show the drone weaving through a minefield before unloading a volley of shots on the Russian position.

Ukraine was the first military to form a standalone drone force – the Unmanned Systems Forces.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, last year said the war-torn country would produce more than a million drones in 2024 to complement the new force.

But the latest estimates suggest that the target has been well exceeded, with Ukraine capable of producing around four million drones a year annually.

Some of the latest models are fitted with fibre optic cables that prevent Russian electronic warfare jammers from severing the connection between the drones and their operators.