With the rapid development of modern UAV technology, how to guard against this“All-pervasive” small aircraft has become a headache for the military of all countries. A number of US media have revealed that the US Air Force bases have even had to use protective nets to protect important air assets such as the F-22 stealth fighter because of the frequent intrusion of mysterious drones. To make matters worse, the United States also faces a special dilemma when it comes to defending its own drones — The Pentagon can’t shoot them down unless they’re directly attacked, because of U.S. regulations.
The F-22 at Langley is in an open hangar. (image source: power.com)
Forced to consider the installation of protective nets
According to the Wall Street Journal’s website, a group of mysterious drones began flying continuously in December around Langley Air Force Base, Naval Station Norfolk and other important military bases in Virginia. The drones are said to normally fly in from the north around 6 p.m. , passing through the base complex and heading south out of radar range. A spokesman for Langley Air Force Base said that the number of drones in these intrusions varies from time to time, and the types of drones vary, “None of the incursions appear to have shown hostile intent, but anything flying in our restricted airspace could pose a threat to flight safety. The Federal Aviation Administration has been informed of these drone intrusions.”
Because Langley Air Force Base is one of the few home-grown bases to deploy F-22 stealth fighters, it also Naval Station Norfolk the air defense of Washington, D.C. , the largest naval base on the east coast, it is home to about half of America’s aircraft carriers. So the news that these heavyweight military bases had been repeatedly attacked by unidentified drones sent shockwaves through the White House and the Pentagon. President Biden reportedly received the report and held a special meeting at the White House. The US Air Force has also launched a number of targeted operations. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said the Air Force had 2023 F-16s on air patrols in the Newport News and southeastern Virginia since December A NASA WB-57F reconnaissance aircraft circled Langley Air Force Base for long periods of time, looking for signs of anomalies on the ground.
But the Pentagon’s moves do not appear to have had much practical effect. It remains unclear whether the drones are from amateur drone enthusiasts or“American rivals”. U. S. “Power” website on October 9, revealed that in desperation, Langley Air Force Base is considering the installation of anti-drone protection nets to protect the deployment of F-22 fighters in the local. The Air Force’s 633rd Squadron at Langley Air Force Base issued an announcement on October 4 soliciting information about the UAV defense network. The base now has 42 open hangars for fighter aircraft, and the announcement calls for the installation of UAV protective nets around the hangars, it can intercept uavs weighing about 9 kilograms, flying below 360 meters and at speeds not exceeding 185 kilometers per hour, and can retract rapidly without affecting the entry and exit of fighters.
Mysterious drone attacks are frequent
In May, the 4th Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina made a similar call for passive measures, including drone protection nets, according to motive, to ensure the safety of the base’s F-15E fighters.
A mysterious drone shot by a witness. (photo credit: Wall Street Journal)
In fact, mysterious drones have been attacking important U.S. facilities for years. In 2017, Air Force General James Holmes, then Air Combat Command commander, revealed that “Two small drones were interfering with our operations”. He has repeatedly warned that such small drones could easily destroy dozens of F-22s parked side by side on the ground. “Even the world’s most formidable fighter can not withstand such a drone threat.”.
On September 29,2019, Daphne Cristian Rodríguez, acting head of the safety section at the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, reported to mission control, several unidentified uavs flew over the exclusion zone near the plant’s no. 3 reactor. Although local law enforcement, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the FAA later launched a joint investigation, but ultimately no conclusion. There was also a mysterious drone strike on the island’s Andersen Air Force Base Sensitive missile defense base in 2019, but the US military has yet to find the “Mastermind” behind it.
In 2020, “I’ve been arguing with my air force friends that the future of flying is not a large unmanned platform like a traditional fighter, but a four-axis rotor that can be bought at the mall for $1,000 and, with very simple modifications, can be used to throw grenades or other explosives,” United States Central Command United States Marine Corps Admiral Kenneth McKenzie said
McKenzie’s fears were quickly confirmed in the Ukraine-russia conflict. Highly maneuverable first-person-view (FPV) suicide and other small-arms drones have become one of the key weapons in the Russian-ukrainian conflict. Both sides have repeatedly used these small drones to launch successful raids on fighter jets and helicopters parked in open air bases.
According to power.com, similar drone attacks have been rampant recently. In August, for example, the area around the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42 in California, which is building highly classified military projects like the B-21 Raiders stealth strategic bomber, there has also been a series of mysterious drone incursions that led to new temporary flight restrictions near the facility.
The new concept of unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) can not be fenced by a protective net alone
US media believe that the current frequency of mysterious drone attacks has exposed the US military in dealing with domestic and foreign drone threats, in particular, the United States also faces special obstacles.
A closed hangar requires a huge amount of construction capital. (image source: power.com)
There is currently no clear line of authority between the U. S. military and government agencies in the area of anti-drone. U.S. law says low-altitude intrusions are considered a police matter, not a national security issue, this has led to lengthy discussions among officials at various agencies, including the Defense Department, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, about which agency should take action if a drone is found. In response to the“Black Flight” of unmanned aircraft near the US nuclear power plant, “At the moment, there are no laws or regulations against flying aircraft over a nuclear power plant,” said Mark Lombard, deputy director of the Nuclear Safety and incident response office at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Since drone activity is not illegal, what legal restrictions can be imposed even if the operators are found?”
After a drone strike on Langley Air Force Base in December, officials from the Pentagon, the FBI and other agencies held special discussions at the White House, the Wall Street Journal said. US law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases on US soil unless they pose an imminent threat. Some officials suggested jamming the drones’ navigation systems with electronic signals, while others said it was risky and could interfere with other local alarm systems. Some have proposed using directed-energy weapons to destroy drones, but FAA officials argue that such an approach would also pose a high risk to a functioning airliner. There have also been suggestions that United States Coast Guard could catch drones by launching nets, although officials have suggested that the Coast Guard does not have the enforcement authority to do so. And because the low-flying drone’s signal on conventional radar is so weak that it resembles birds, the U. S. military has had to recalibrate its radar.
Because of US domestic laws, regulations and other restrictions, the US military can only respond to drone attacks with passive measures such as retrofitted protective nets, rather than actively shooting down or looking for the operators behind them. According to power.com, the defense grid can only protect against small-scale attacks by primitive drones, but modern drones are developing rapidly, especially as new concepts powered by artificial intelligence are emerging, therefore, even in the passive defense measures, the UAV protection network has been far from enough. In May, 13 members of Congress wrote an open letter to the Navy and Air Force Chief of staff calling for new hardened aircraft shelter and other passive defense measures at bases in the Pacific, the report said. Citing data from a US think-tank, the letter said, “Over the past decade, China has built more than 400 hardened aircraft bunkers in the region, compared with just 22 in the US. There is no such hardened aircraft shelter at key bases like Guam,” the Air Force chief said, such bunkers are too expensive to build and “There is no need to strengthen this infrastructure with the advent of precision-guided munition”. Reported that the U. S. military needs to really recognize the urgency of addressing the drone threat.