Pentagon announces new anti-drone strategy as unmanned attacks on US interests soar

The The Pentagon has been introduced a new anti-drone strategy after a series of raids near US bases raised concerns about the lack of an action plan for the growing threat of unmanned aerial vehicles.

While much of the strategy remains classified, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will implement a new one counter-drone office within the Pentagon (Joint Counter-Small UAS Office) and a new Senior Warfighter Integration Group, according to a new memo.

The Pentagon will also begin work on a second Replicator initiative, but it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to decide whether to fund that plan. Replicator’s first initiative worked to deploy inexpensive, expendable drones to thwart drone attacks by adversary groups around the world. Middle East and in other places.

The memo warned that the increased use of unmanned systems must reshape US tactics as they make it easier for adversaries to “surveill, disrupt and attack our forces … potentially without attribution.”

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The plan outlines a five-pronged approach: deepen understanding of enemy drones, launch offensive campaigns to thwart their ability to build such systems, improve “active and passive” defenses against such attacks, rapidly ramp up production of systems against drones and counter them. -The drone is a top priority for the development of future forces.

Over the past year, Iran’s support Houthi rebels have been using small one-way unmanned aerial systems to attack the western sea lanes in the Red Sea.

This has led to dangerous waters along a trade route that normally sees a trillion dollars in goods pass through it, as well as aid shipments to war-torn Sudan and the Yemeni people.

Some experts have considered the US response inadequate to deter the Houthis from inflicting billions of dollars in damage to the global economy.

Moreover, the cost of the US response to these attacks is disproportionate. While Houthi drones are estimated to cost around $2,000 each, the US-fired naval missiles can cost around $2 million per shot.

In September, the Houthis took out two US Reaper drones in one week, machinery that costs about $30 million a piece.

Both sides have also launched deadly drone strikes in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Unmanned systems pose an urgent and enduring threat to U.S. personnel, facilities and assets overseas,” the Pentagon said in a statement Thursday announcing the strategy.

“By producing a singular strategy for countering unmanned systems, the secretary and the department are orienting themselves around a common understanding of the challenge and a shared approach to addressing it.”

three American service members were killed in a January drone strike in Jordan. Experts warned that the United States lacks a clear procedure against drones after 17 unmanned vehicles became trapped in restricted airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last December.

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The mysterious drones swarmed for more than two weeks. A standard protocol for these raids was lacking Langley officials don’t know what to do — other than allowing 20-foot-long drones to fly near their classified facilities.

Langley is home to some of the nation’s top secret facilities and F-22 Raptor stealth fighters.

Two months before Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, used for nuclear weapons experiments. US authorities were also not sure who was behind these drones.

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A Chinese surveillance balloon criss-crossed the US for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down on the coast.

The 42nd Air Force Base in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a spate of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the facility.