Pentagon to start program solely aimed at defeating drones

In the near future, the Pentagon plans to open a new program specifically to teach troops to spot and destroy small enemy drones. The military is pursuing a uniform solution to defeating drones, which officials have described as an increasing threat to the battleground.

Pentagon to start program solely aimed at defeating drones

The Army-led Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office plans to open a new UAS counter-small academy in 2024 at Fort Sill, , where it will be part of the Army Fires Center of Excellence, said Army Major General Sean Gainey, the chief of that new office. Gainey's new office in Arlington, Va., was opened earlier this year as Pentagon officials concentrated more on the topic of small, mostly off-the-shelf drones that have been used against U.S. troops in the and in recent years.

“The [small drone] threat is evolving,” Gainey said recently. “ Having a synergy at the [future] schoolhouse will help the force understand how to get after this problem.”

The problem has arisen in recent years as military officials have confirmed attacks on American troops in places such as Iraq and Syria by Islamic State insurgents using drones to deploy grenades or other explosives. Defense officials also said that other groups, including the Taliban in Afghanistan, have used small drones to track the movements of American troops in recent years.

In a testimony to the House Armed Service Committee in March, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, chief of the U.S. Central Command, warned that small drones were among the most alarming threats in the area in recent history.

“The growing threat posed by UASs, coupled with our lack of dependable … capabilities to counter them, is the most concerning tactical development in the CENTCOM [region] since the rise of the improvised explosive device, ”McKenzie said, according to Stars and Stripes.

Pentagon To Start Program Solely Aimed At Defeating Drones

Pentagon To Start Program Solely Aimed At Defeating Drones 1

Among the challenges that soldiers face in the war against small drones is a fractured, service-specific approach to defeating them, said Lt . Col. Dave Morgan, who works at the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office.

“There are currently no joint linkages or commonality to counter-UAS training across the [Defense] Department,” Morgan said.  “Every service is executing service-specific training. The average soldier, airman, or Marine lacks adequate counter-UAS training.”

The Pentagon has turned to the Army and Gainey's new office to create these techniques and methods for the entire army to follow to counter intelligence-gathering and armed drones in categories ranging from the smallest, usually off-the-shelf drone models weighing less than 20 pounds to unmanned aircraft weighing up to 1,300 pounds, such as Russian Forpost surveillance drones.

So far, Gainey said, the primary means of destroying such aircraft are electronic warfare, often through drone-killing weapons that use lasers or microwave signals to interrupt communications between the drone and its operators.

The Army hopes that it will work rapidly with the defense industry to create new anti-drone weapons that can attack unmanned enemy systems without interrupting friendly or non-combatant drones, Gainey said.

“We're at the point now where we can talk to industry about our requirements and lay out to industry [that] these are the requirements that weren't part of the original set of [counter-UAS] equipment that we want your help with, and that we want you to bring to our test ranges and show us what you're doing to get after this capability-focus area,” he said.

Droneu Marketing Banner Ad 1

Stay in touch!

If you'd like to stay up to date with all the latest drone , scoops, rumors, and reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or…

Subscribe to our Daily Drone News email.*


 

Submit tips If you have information or tips that you would like to share with us, feel free to submit them hereSupport DroneXL.co: You can support DroneXL.co by using these links when you make your next drone purchase: Adorama, Amazon, B&H, BestBuy, eBay, DJI, Parrot, and Yuneec. We make a small commission when you do so at no additional expense to you. Thank you for helping DroneXL grow! FTC: DroneXL.co uses affiliate links that generate income.


* We do not sell, share, rent out or spam your email, ever. Our email goes out on weekdays around 5:30 p.m.

Photo credit: ANGEL RUSZKIEWICZ/U.S. ARMY

Follow DroneXL.co on your Google News feed.

Get your Part 107 Certificate

Pass the test and take to the skies with the Pilot Institute. We have helped thousands of people become airplane and commercial drone pilots. Our courses are designed by industry experts to help you pass FAA tests and achieve your dreams.

pilot institute dronexl

FTC: DroneXL.co uses affiliate links that generate income.* We do not sell, share, rent out, or spam your email, ever. Our email goes out on weekdays around 5:30 p.m.

Haye Kesteloo
Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and EVXL.co, for all news related to electric vehicles. He is also a co-host of the PiXL Drone Show on YouTube and other podcast platforms. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.

Articles: 2417

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap
%d bloggers like this: