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In December 2023, a series of unmanned aerial systems of unknown origin were seen over and around Joint Base Langley-Eustis in southern Virginia. At the time, the Defense Department had little ability to detect, track, characterize, disrupt or defeat those unmanned aerial systems.
While speaking before the House Oversite and Government Reform Committee's military and foreign affairs subcommittee in Washington yesterday, Mark Roosevelt Ditlevson, acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, told lawmakers the department is in a better place now than it was in 2023 regarding dealing with the threat posed by unmanned systems to domestic military installations.
"To some extent, those challenges from JBLE still exist," Ditlevson said. "However, we have worked since then to improve and refine our processes and coordination efforts, and we have seen improvements in subsequent responses. I'm confident that we are in a stronger position to defend DOD installations today than we were in December of 2023."
Ditlevson said that internal process reviews within DOD, a generation of better domain awareness, and the clarification of authorities' commanders are all areas where the department will continue to improve its ability to respond to unwanted unmanned aerial systems.
One example is a streamlined process for obtaining interagency coordination before counter-UAS action is taken, consistent with U.S. Code Section 130i. That effort is being formalized now, and Ditlevson said the first updated guidance will be released in the coming weeks.
Section 130i describes the protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft. Ditlevson said the department would like Congress's help in updating that section.
"We continue to engage with members of Congress to seek modest but important refinements to do these counter-UAS authorities under Section 130i," he said. "Our legislative proposal is intended to allow the department to protect additional locations and missions, add greater stability for long-term planning and resource allocation within the department, and facilitate improved understanding and cooperation among the U.S. interagency and local partners."
One area where Ditlevson said it could improve is to expand the number of locations where it applies.
"Not all installations qualify as one of the nine mission areas under 130i," Ditlevson said. "We'd like to expand that to cover all installations. And then we'd also like to facilitate data sharing because right now, data sharing from the DOD side is limited only in the pursuit of a legal case against a particular individual or group. We're not able to share data with our interagency partners to improve our tactics, techniques or procedures."
Navy Rear Adm. Paul Spedero Jr., vice director for operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the development, fielding, acquisition and distribution of domain awareness sensors are critical steps in helping DOD pursue unwanted UAS systems over domestic military installations. However, so is a system to provide command and control.
"We need a method to exert command and control so that we can build a common operating picture," he said. "It will take layers of different sensors because one sensor may be better against certain and certain flight profiles, and you may have to rely on different sensors to round out the picture. So, being able to fuse all that together to get the complete picture will be necessary."
Spedero also told lawmakers about "fly-away" kits, which are mobile kits that contain counter-UAS technology that can be sent to installations that need them on request. Such kits would be used to bolster the defenses of military installations that don't have sufficient capabilities of their own.
"We are addressing the shortfall right now with the fielding of fly-away kits," he said. "These will be kits that will be available for bases that have very limited capability to detect on their own and build domain awareness. And should they have an incursion that they're unable to resolve, they would solicit the help from the commander of U.S. Northern Command, and this fly-away kit, as well as expertise and additional resources that would be required would be immediately deployed to that location."
Also contributing to the department's increased ability to defend against UAS is that the commander of Northcom has been designated as the C-UAS "operational synchronizer" for North America. The commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command was put in a similar role.
"Within weeks of being assigned this role, , the commander of U.S. Northern Command, released a comprehensive commander's assessment that has served as a roadmap to building the necessary command and control and standard operating procedures to address the drone threat," Spedero said.
