Tag: drones

NORAD commander says hundreds of drone incursions were detected at US military installations

The Pentagon needs more technology and expanded authorities to deal with large numbers of incursions over U.S. military installations by small unmanned aerial systems, the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command told lawmakers.

NORAD and Northcom chief Gen. Gregory Guillot revealed more details Thursday about widespread, recent incidents that highlight the drone problem.

“The primary threat I see for them in the way they’ve been operating is detection and perhaps surveillance of sensitive capabilities on our installations,” he said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “There were 350 detections reported last year on military installations, and that was 350 over a total of 100 different installations of all types and levels of security.”

High-profile incidents that were reported last year include UAS sightings at multiple bases in New Jersey amid a broader slew of public reports of mysterious drone activity in that part of the country. At the time, a senior defense official said the Pentagon was “frustrated” by these types of events.

Complicated regulatory structure and limitations on UAS countermeasures stemming from concerns about flight safety and privacy have created “significant vulnerabilities that have been exploited by known and unknown actors,” Guillot told lawmakers in written testimony for Thursday’s hearing.

Not all commanders have the authority to use weapons to defend their bases from these types of drone incursions. Only about half are considered “covered installations,” he told lawmakers.

Section 130i under Title 10 of U.S. Code pertains to protection of “certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft.”

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Some drones over US bases may have been conducting surveillance: NORTHCOM general

A senior U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) official told members of the Senate that some of the 350 drones that flew over military installations and sensitive areas last year may have been conducting surveillance.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, who is commander of NORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), was questioned about the drones during a Senate Armed Services Committee Budget hearing on Thursday.

Drones were spotted flying all over the country last year, though most notably in New Jersey. They were also flying over military installations, including Joint Base Langley, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked Guillot about the threat the unmanned aircraft pose to military operations, facilities and personnel.

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High-Explosive Drone Pierces Shell Of Chernobyl Nuclear Plant At Very Moment Trump Pushes Ukraine Toward Peace

On Friday just prior to high-level meetings among Western security officials and Ukrainian leadership commencing in Munich, including US Vice President J.D. Vance and Zelensky, there was a dangerous incident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine’s Kyiv oblast.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky accused Russia of launching a drone equipped with a high-explosive warhead at the historic, defunct power plant, site of the April 1986 nuclear disaster and meltdown. The drone reportedly hit the protective containment shell of the Chernobyl plant.

Zelensky’s office released footage showing an impact to the giant concrete and steel shield protecting the remains of the nuclear reactor. BBC writes that “The shield is designed to prevent further radioactive material leaking out over the next century. It measures 275m (900ft) wide and 108m (354ft) tall and cost $1.6bn (£1.3bn) to construct.”

And WaPo details further of the looming potential dangers:

In 2019, construction was completed on the New Safe Confinement — a $1.7 billion arch-shaped steel structure, which would contain the destroyed reactor. The site still contained some “200 tons of highly radioactive material,” according to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, which helped finance the project.

Thus the situation is deeply alarming given the potential for a new radiation leak at the site which could impact the region, or even Europe. An IAEA team on the ground said it heard an explosion at around 01:50 local time coming from the New Safe Confinement (NSC) shelter. Photos showed flames at the top of the huge structure.

The UN agency is on high alert, but issued a statement saying the drone strike did not breach the plant’s inner containment shell. The IAEA also did not attribute blame, not identifying who sent the drone.

The Kremlin strongly rejected that it was behind the incident:

“There is no talk about strikes on nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities, any such claim isn’t true, our military doesn’t do that,” Peskov told reporters in a call.

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A New Military-Industrial Complex Arises

Last April, in a move generating scant media attention, the Air Force announced that it had chosen two little-known drone manufacturers – Anduril Industries of Costa Mesa, California, and General Atomics of San Diego – to build prototype versions of its proposed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), a future unmanned plane intended to accompany piloted aircraft on high-risk combat missions. The lack of coverage was surprising, given that the Air Force expects to acquire at least 1,000 CCAs over the coming decade at around $30 million each, making this one of the Pentagon’s costliest new projects. But consider that the least of what the media failed to note. In winning the CCA contract, Anduril and General Atomics beat out three of the country’s largest and most powerful defense contractors – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman – posing a severe threat to the continued dominance of the existing military-industrial complex, or MIC.

For decades, a handful of giant firms like those three have garnered the lion’s share of Pentagon arms contracts, producing the same planes, ships, and missiles year after year while generating huge profits for their owners. But an assortment of new firms, born in Silicon Valley or incorporating its disruptive ethos, have begun to challenge the older ones for access to lucrative Pentagon awards. In the process, something groundbreaking, though barely covered in the mainstream media, is underway: a new MIC is being born, one that potentially will have very different goals and profit-takers than the existing one. How the inevitable battles between the old and the new MICs play out can’t be foreseen, but count on one thing: they are sure to generate significant political turbulence in the years to come.

The very notion of a “military-industrial complex” linking giant defense contractors to powerful figures in Congress and the military was introduced on January 17, 1961, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address to Congress and the American people. In that Cold War moment, in response to powerful foreign threats, he noted that “we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.” Nevertheless, he added, using the phrase for the first time, “we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

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Secret Service Shot Down Drone above Trump Motorcade during Election Campaign

President Trump’s Secret Service detail were forced to shoot down a drone during the election campaign, according to a new book.

Reporter Alex Isenstadt says that while on campaign in Pennsylvania—where Trump was almost assassinated by a gunman—a drone began following the Trump motorcade, prompting a Secret Service agent to shoot it down with an electromagnetic weapon.

The Trump campaign was particularly concerned by threats to his life from the Iranian regime, which has vowed revenge against the President since the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, during Trump’s first term in office.

Isenstadt says that Trump was warned of threats to his private jet “Trump Force One” from Iranian operatives armed with surface-to-air missiles. It was worried the plane would be particularly vulnerable during takeoff and landing.

The book claims that Trump travelled on a decoy plane provided by businessman Steve Witkoff, who has since been named Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East. Trump was playing golf with Steve Witkoff in West Palm Beach when a second attempt was made on his life by Ryan Routh, who is due to face trial for the attempt, in September.

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US Launches Reconnaissance Aerial Monitoring Aircraft Over Mexican Border in Run-up to Potential Cartel Strike

This ought to scare the hell out of the cartel drug lords on the ground.
The US is allegedly flying reconnaissance planes inside Mexico.

On his second day in office President Trump officially designated drug cartels on the southern border as terrorist organizations.

Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that “all options are on the table” regarding the Mexican cartels.

President Trump is not fooling around with the Mexican cartels.

Aviacionline reported Monday (in Spanish) that US authorities are using high-tech aircraft over the border to strengthen surveillance over possible illicit activities.

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Mexican drug cartels plan attacks on Border Patrol agents with kamikaze drones and other explosives to fight US crackdown

Mexican drug cartels are ordering their members to attack US Border Patrol agents with kamikaze drones and other explosives in a desperate bid to thwart the crackdown at the border, according to an internal memo obtained by The Post.

The alert, which cites social media posts and other sources, cautions federal agents “to remain cognizant of their surroundings at all times” in the face of the new threat.

“On February 1, 2025, the El Paso Sector Intelligence and Operations Center (EPT-IOC) received information advising that Mexican cartel leaders have authorized the deployment of drones equipped with explosives to be used against US Border Patrol agents and US military personal currently working along the border with Mexico,” the internal memo titled “Officer Safety Alert” said.

“It is recommended that all US Border Patrol agents and DoD personnel working along the border report any sighting of drones to their respective leadership staff and the EPT-IOC.”

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CBP Memo Reveals Cartel Members Are Deploying Weaponized Drones for Potential Use Against CBP Officers

Cartels at the southern border are reportedly escalating violent threats against U.S. border and law enforcement officers, with social media posts encouraging violence and the authorization of weaponized drones for use against border officers.  

Copies of recent memos sent to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detail the threats on social media, NewsNation reports.

Additionally, officers are warned that the cartels are expected to use drones armed with explosives.

This news comes as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently said, “All options are on the table,” when he was asked if the U.S. will use military force against the cartels in Mexico.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, President Trump also sent a message to “all who would attack Americans” on Saturday, stating, “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!” after announcing precision air strikes against ISIS in Somalia.

“This action further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border-protection and many other operations under President Trump’s leadership,” Hegseth said following the execution of the airstrikes indicating strikes on the cartels could be considered.

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Drone Psy-Op Timeline: Why Lying Was Useful To Biden, His 11th Hour FAA Hire Was Obama’s Guy

In mid-November, shortly after the election, the drone sightings began to mount. You remember. It was eerie. Easily written off by the media at first, the sightings–and video evidence–slowly flooded social media. The size and quantity of the vehicles (and footage) became impossible to ignore.

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) became a new fact of life…during the transition of power.

Our government, led by the lamest of lame ducks in modern memory, repeatedly failed to provide clarity. The sound of dragging bureaucratic feet was deafening. Hearings were held for the mayors of affected municipalities, then for congress. Attendees left these meetings frustrated, with no solid answers.

In an information vacuum, the conspiracy theories naturally mounted. Were they here to spy? Protect? Locate stolen nuclear material?

Space Oddities

Before the drone outbreak, there were ominous events in governmental expansion and legacy media which set the table for the Biden administration psy-op.

First, the Trump administration green-lighted Space Force, a new branch of the armed forces, and the eighth national, uniformed service group.

Star Trek jokes abounded, especially when the logo–looking very much like a version of the franchise’s Starfleet Command–was revealed.

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Russia Says Ukrainian Drones Target Nuclear Power Plant

Ukraine launched over 100 drones targeting Russian energy infrastructure. One Russian official said that a nuclear power plant was among the targets.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, overnight Tuesday, its forces downed more than 100 Ukrainian drones. The UAVs targeted Russian energy infrastructure over a widespread area.

One of the drones was downed in the Smolensk Region near a nuclear facility. “According to preliminary information, one of the drones was shot down during an attempt to attack a nuclear power facility,” the region’s Governor Vasily Anokhin said. “There were no casualties or damage,” he added.

In the Belgorod Region, Russian authorities reported a drone killed a woman and her 2-year-old child.

Recently, Kiev has stepped up its drone strikes in Russia. Earlier this month, Ukraine launched its largest drone and missile barrage of the war. Among the targets was the TurkStream pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to Turkey.

Moscow typically responds to Ukrainian attacks inside Russia by bombing cities and infrastructure. Following a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia in December, President Putin said, “Whoever and however tries to destroy something in our country, he will face destruction many times larger in his own country and will regret its attempts to do that in our country.”

Additionally, the Kremlin often blames Washington for its role in supplying Kiev with the necessary arms, funding, and intelligence to conduct attacks in Russia.

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