WASHINGTON − Cheap weaponized drones pose a threat to military bases and civilians, leading a senior military official to predict they’ll be used soon to inflict a “mass-casualty event.”
Ukraine underscored the risk to advanced military powers on June 1 when its inexpensive drones damaged or destroyed strategic warplanes across Russia. U.S. military bases, and targets like major sports events, share similar vulnerabilities, officials say.
Neither the Pentagon, nor the militaries of other developed countries, has figured out how to defend against swarms of small drones packed with explosives, according to the military official, who has been briefed on counter-drone efforts but was not authorized to speak publicly.
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We’re not even close, the official said.
No one is.
The threat from drones to military isn’t just overseas. Last year, the military tallied 350 drone incursions on domestic bases, according to U.S. Northern Command. Most of those were probably hobbyists who strayed into restricted airspace, the defense official said. Some, however, could have been from foreign adversaries spying on the military. And some wonder if they could have carried explosives.
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How does the Pentagon, which spends nearly a trillion dollars a year on defense, have such a vulnerability? What’s being done to address it, and how future of drone warfare plays out gains greater and greater urgency for lawmakers and military planners as technology improves almost daily.
For the better part of two decades, the Pentagon had unmatched superiority in drone technology. Early in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Predator and later Reaper drones armed with Hellfire missiles allowed pilots in dark bases in the Nevada desert to attack militant targets in the Middle East.
A Reaper costs about $28 million, according to the Congressional Research Service. For a fraction of that cost today, a small drone can be weaponized and flown to its target and deliver devastating effects, too.
“At a cost of a mere tens of thousands of dollars, Ukraine inflicted billions in damage, potentially setting back Russia’s bomber capabilities for years,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll testified to Congress this week. “The world saw in near-real time how readily available technology can disrupt established power dynamics.”
Ukraine has been at the forefront of militarized drone development. By necessity, it needs a cheap alternative to thwart Russia, a country with a far larger military force that has advantages in conventional weapons like warplanes, tanks and artillery.
Ukraine deployed first-person view, or FPV drones, in its attack on the Russian airfields. FPV drones allow a pilot with a headset to steer the aircraft to its target. That technology has proliferated and gotten relatively cheap in recent years. You can buy an FPV drone on Amazon for under $700.
The Ukrainian military has refined technology for small drones and improves nearly weekly to offset Russian countermeasures, the defense official said.
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Fatal attack
The Pentagon is painfully aware of the threat.
In January 2024 militants in Jordan launched a drone attack on an outpost in the desert as soldiers slept in their quarters. Three died when the drone slammed into their building.
Realizing the urgency of the threat, the Pentagon began funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into counter-drone weaponry. That includes electronic jamming devices that can sever the link between the operator and the drone, rendering it harmless. Small missiles can be fired at drones at a distance, and shotgun-type weapons can be used for those closer in, the official said. Even nets can be used to snag drones in the air before they reach their target.
Defending against a swarm of small drones is a tough problem, the official said. There’s no simple solution.
More: Zap it and put it in a bag: Inside the military’s response to drones flying over bases
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, assured Army officials that Congress is prepared to spend billions on drone defense.
Before senators and Army officials retreated to discuss the drone threat in secret, Driscoll raised another alarm about the threat.
“We are not doing enough,” he said. “The current status quo is not sufficient.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cheap, fast, explosive: Stopping Ukraine-style drone swarms
