Officials swamped by illicit drone invasions of banned US airspaces

At this point it’s pretty clear the US has an invasive drone problem – and a large one at that – though it’s still anyone’s guess who’s piloting the craft, or what authorities are going to do about controlling them.

The rising incidence of invasive flights by unidentified drones across the US was illustrated this month by a pair of developments involving hundreds of furtive craft. One was a report by The War Zone, on what it called “waves of mysterious drone incursions that occurred throughout December” in and around the airspace of Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base. Those recurring sightings sparked the deployment of fighter jets, research aircraft, and other high-power aerial assets to locate and collect information that would permit authorities to identify the UAVs and their operators – in vain.

The other reflection of the rising number of intruding drone flights came from Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the incoming chief of the US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is responsible for overseeing the security of security in the hemisphere’s airspace. During testimony to Congress, Guillot spoke of the problem he immediately encountered of illegal UAV operations over the country’s southern border.

“I don’t know the actual number — I don’t think anybody does — but it’s in the thousands,” Guillot said to questions seeking to quantify the ongoing illicit flights of drones between the US and Mexico. “I would say… (we) probably have over 1,000 a month.

“Shortly after taking command and beginning my 90-day assessment, I realized that the challenge of the large increase in the number of incursions by UASs was something that was going to drive and change probably the direction of my first year in command because of that acute number,” Guillot stated.

He won’t be alone in that. 

As always, authorities – whether regulators, law enforcement, government, military, or parents – are scrambling to catch up with tech, innovations, and applications that move even faster. It’s pretty clear that’s the case with drones, whether in preventing illegal activity around National Football League games, airports, sensitive infrastructure, and even military airspaces. What’s less evident is how officials will quickly and effectively react to overcome the inherent threats of those flights.

But in addition to the risks posed, what’s also irking about the growing drone flights in banned US airspaces is how unconcerned the mysterious operators seem to be about getting caught. That’s was evident in brazenly invading prohibited areas around Langley, Air Force zones in Arizona, or other military and governmental assets. Large, armed Navy ships have even been buzzed by swarms with impunity.

The response by Langley officials to The War Zone’s inquiries about the flights bore witness to the nonchalance of the drones’ operators, and their apparent attitudes of impunity or invulnerability in being nabbed.

“The installation first observed UAS [uncrewed aerial systems] activities the evening of December 6 [2023] and experienced multiple incursions throughout the month,” the US Air Force reply said. “The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size/configuration. None of the incursions appeared to exhibit hostile intent but anything flying in our restricted airspace can pose a threat to flight safety. The FAA was made aware of the UAS incursions.”

Spies? Chinese drones? Plotters? Insouciant amateur pilots? Tech-savvy UAV geeks out to pull on the U.S. Air Force’s cape with invasive outings? 

Nobody can say at this point. But what is clear is officials are nowhere close to being able to respond to – much less combat – those incursions. And because of that, those flights are certain to increase in number, audacity, and inherent risks until major efforts are undertaken to deploy sophisticated counter-drone tech as standard issue assets for all sensitive public, enterprise, government, and military facilities. 

Image: Peter Muscutt/Unsplash