The U.S. military is rushing to protect its domestic bases from the type of drone attack that hobbled the Russian nuclear fleet, but it lacks the infrastructure
The U.S. military is prioritizing the protection of its bases in the country from drone attacks after Ukraine launched a surprise attack against Russia earlier this month and Israel is suspected of using the same strategy against Iran.
The Ukraine attack destroyed at least 10 of Moscow’s limited supply of long-range heavy bombers, which are a critical component of Russia’s nuclear capability.
Israel is suspected to have smuggled drone parts into Iran and assembled them before using the drones to attack Tehran’s ballistic missile launchers and silos from within.
U.S. military leaders are increasingly concerned that similar attacks, which leverage low-cost commercial drones against expensive weapons systems, could pose a lasting threat to bases and critical infrastructure throughout the country.
However, the Army and other service branches are struggling to design and deploy appropriate technologies to defend bases on U.S. soil, owing to variables that don’t need to be considered in a war zone.
“How we’re going to [defend bases] in a combat zone is very different from how we would do that in the states, obviously,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said at a House Armed Services Committee on June 4.
One key factor is the Byzantine patchwork of local, state, and federal laws governing drone flights and the military’s own rules of engagement.
Whereas officers at an outpost overseas might simply engage with an unidentified drone approaching their base before any potential harm can occur, the military lacks the authority to engage with drones on U.S. soil, unless those drones directly enter a facility’s airspace.
Even then, options are limited.
The use of kinetic systems that would simply shoot down a drone are out of the question on American soil, according to military personnel, as they are not cost-effective, and would also run the risk of injuring civilians or damaging property when the debris fell to the ground.
That issue highlights the other key factor confounding military planners: A lack of counter-drone systems customized to deal with emergent threats to bases in the United States without endangering civilians.
