In recent years, the field of countering unmanned aerial vehicles has exploded within the government and in private industry. Drones have been democratized as the technology becomes cheaper and more readily available. While larger, airplane-sized drones were used by the U.S. government throughout the war on terror, smaller quad-copter drones have become prevalent on battlefields in Ukraine. The military took notice, as they have few means to counter such drones at the moment.
But that may be changing as five military installations have recently been chosen to field a pilot program for directed energy weapons that can down drones and other airborne threats. The pilot program will go into effect at five military bases on America's borders. They are Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and Fort Bliss, Texas, as well as Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
The U.S. military has been testing a number of different directed energy systems over the years, which fire lasers or high-powered microwaves at their targets.
"Countering unlawful and adversarial drone activity is a homeland defense imperative," Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, who oversees the pilot program as the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 director, said. "There is no 'silver bullet' to address this challenge, and this pilot program integrates cutting-edge technology into the department's broader counter-drone toolkit."
One of the major concerns with these directed energy systems was that they could inadvertently pose a threat to civilian passenger aircraft. However, recent testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, done in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration, showed that these systems "do not pose undue risk to passenger aircraft," a recent press release from the Department of Defense announced.
The deployment of the directed energy systems to the five military bases is expected to begin later this year.
