Army Arsenal Seeking Info On Mysterious Drone Flights Over Installation

[william]

The U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in northern New Jersey is working with local, state, and federal partners to obtain more information about mysterious drone activity over the facility and in the surrounding area, a spokesman told us. His comments were in response to questions we asked about reports of strange drone activity near the facility that emerged on social media overnight.

The military installation is home to several important armament development organizations, including the Joint Center of Excellence for Guns and Ammunition, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center, and one of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC)’s research and development laboratories.

It remains unclear exactly what people were seeing in the sky last evening over and near Picatinny Arsenal, however, the installation is clearly taking reports of drone activity seriously enough to contact several other partner organizations to find answers. This fits with a major change in how seriously military installations and critical infrastructure facilities are taking these kinds of events

Army Arsenal Seeking Info On Mysterious Drone Flights Over Installation

This marks the latest incident of multiple reports of drones of unknown origin being spotted over U.S. military facilities.

www.twz.com

 

[william]

Multiple Drone Incursions Just Occurred Over USAF Fighter Base In England​

Anumber of drones were spotted over and near RAF Lakenheath in England on Nov. 20, the Air Force told The War Zone in response to our query about the incident.

“The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size/configuration,” a spokesperson for U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE) told us “The UASs were actively monitored.

There were unconfirmed reports that F-15E Strike Eagles were sent aloft to chase the drones and that flight operations at the base were affected. The Air Force did not immediately respond to those claims.

“To protect operational security, we do not discuss our specific force protection measures but retain the right to protect the installation,” USAFE told us. “We continue to monitor our airspace and are working with host-nation authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets.”

RAF Lakenheath houses an extremely important set of capabilities, most notably the U.S. Air Forces in Europe’s only fourth and fifth-generation fighter wing and home to F-35A & F-15E tactical jets.

Multiple Drone Incursions Just Occurred Over USAF Fighter Base In England

This is the latest incident involving groups of drones flying over sensitive U.S. military facilities.

www.twz.com

 

[william]

Mysterious Drones Have Descended Again On U.S. Air Bases In The United Kingdom​

On Friday, The War Zone broke the news about a multi-drone incursion of the U.S. Air Force’s master fighter base in the United Kingdon, RAF Lakenheath. Since then we have received information that the incursions were more widespread, occurring around multiple bases. Now we have confirmed that the drones are back near RAF Lakenheath as well as RAF Mildenhall, which is a very concerning development to say the least.

A U.S. defense official confirmed to us this morning that the drone flights have resumed near both installations. While RAF Lakenheath houses primarily squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, RAF Mildenhall hosts strategic surveillance aircraft and aerial refueling tankers. There are claims that F-15E Strike Eagles were launched to investigate from the air during the RAF Lakenheath today. We received the same information during the first incursions last week, although we cannot confirm the fighter’s involvement in the response, flight tracking information posted online does appear to support this.

The original incident at Lakenheath was not an isolated one. Similar drone incursions happened around the same time at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell between November 20th and 22nd, according to USAFE.

U.K. Ministry of Defense provided TWZ.com a statement Monday morning as well, stating, in part:

“We employ multi-layered and credible force protection measures, we will not go into specifics and it would be inappropriate to comment further on operational security matters, however, we can confirm we are working closely with USVF [U.S. Visiting Force), Police and other partners to respond to recent events]

Further details remain limited at this time, but clearly these events are going to result in a more expansive response by the U.S. Air Force and the United Kingdom. What that will look like remains unclear.”

There is much about these events that we do not know. While “the number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size/configuration” according to the USAF, exactly what their configurations were remains unclear as does their specific pattern of operations. We also don’t know what drone awareness capabilities are deployed to these bases and when they were installed if so. Regardless, this is turning out to be major string of events that is going to require a very robust response in terms of technical capabilities and resources to investigate and potentially mitigate. We should see that response taking shape in the hours and days to come.

TWZ has led coverage over many years on the major threat drones pose to military installations, infrastructure, VIPs and more. These latest incidents in the U.K. come eleven months after a similar rash of drone incursions occurred over Langley AFB in Virginia, a story TWZ exclusively broke in March. The USAF’s highly sensitive Plant 42 in Palmdale has also become a major drone incursion hotspot since then. Just last week another major scare occurred a major Army testing area. There has also been real fears that Russia may attempt to strike NATO airfields with drones, which has led to major alert posture changes at some facilities.

Mysterious Drones Have Descended Again On U.S. Air Bases In The United Kingdom (Updated)

We also now know the drone incursions last week happened over multiple bases, not just RAF Lakenheath.

www.twz.com

 

[william]

What do you think about all this? Surveillance, attack planning?

 

[Irag8er]

**UPDATE**

Unidentified drones spotted over US bases in the UK, do not appear belong to 'hobbyists'​

Unidentified drones spotted over US bases in the UK, do not appear belong to 'hobbyists'

Unidentified drones have been spotted over U.S. bases in the United Kingdom used by American forces for a week, Fox News has confirmed.

www.foxnews.com

***EXCERPT***

The incursion of drones comes a month after Fox first reported that surveillance drones flew for 17 days near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last December. Those drones were large but pose a similar challenge to base commanders.

I find this both disturbing and perplexing.
Why let this continue? why not justt ake one down?

 

[william]

You'd think they would be able to trace these drones back to their origine wouldn't you. I mean, come on they can tell where a firearm has been discharged in a metro area, but they can't track a drone back to where it originated from! WTH

 

[Irag8er]

You'd think they would be able to trace these drones back to their origine wouldn't you. I mean, come on they can tell where a firearm has been discharged in a metro area, but they can't track a drone back to where it originated from! WTH

True. Something is a bit "off" concerning theses stories.

 

[OReid]

I would think with RF tracking IF the equipment was deployed and operational at a base they could be tracked fairly easily.
Unless these drones are using AI flight controls they have to be controlled reasonably close. Even easier if using cell modem control. The question would be having the resources on site and ready to respond.
But the DOD and homeland are probably still arguing over jurisdiction. So don’t expect a fix till something bad happens.

Sadly it could be stupid people doing stupid things, or planning for something larger.