Why can’t the US military shoot down mysterious drones?

“By all indications, (small unmanned aerial systems) will pose a safety and security risk to military installations and other critical infrastructure for the foreseeable future,” said Northern Air Forces Chief Gregory Guillot. He said Journalists at that time. “Mitigating these risks requires a dedicated effort across all federal departments and agencies, state, local, tribal and territorial communities, and Congress to further develop the capabilities, coordination, and legal authorities necessary to detect, track, and address potential threats to the homeland’s unmanned aerial systems.”

But US military officials also indicated to reporters that the types of counter-drone capabilities the Pentagon might be able to use for local defense may be limited to non-kinetic “soft kill” means such as jamming radio frequency signals, GPS and other means. Relatively low. Technology interception techniques such as networks and “Signage Series” Due to legal restrictions on the US military’s ability to operate drones over US territory.

“The threat and the need to confront these threats are growing faster than the policies and procedures in place can keep up,” says Guo. He said Journalists during an anti-drone experiment. “A lot of the missions we do back home are a very complex environment in that it’s complex from an organizational perspective. It’s a very civilized environment. It’s not a war zone.”

Defense officials echoed that sentiment while unveiling the Pentagon’s new counter-drone strategy in early December.

“Home is a very different environment in that we have a lot of hobbyist drones here that pose no threat at all, and it’s kind of crowded out in the environment,” a senior US official said. He told reporters at that time. “At the same time, we have, from a legal perspective and from an intelligence perspective, a more restrictive environment in terms of our ability to act.”

The platform in question, according to defense officials, is A Specific subsection Title 10 of the United States Code, which governs the United States Armed Forces. The section, known as 130(i), includes military authorities with respect to “protecting certain facilities and assets from drones.” It gives US forces the authority to take “actions” to defend against drones, including measures to “disable control of the unmanned aircraft system or drones, without prior approval, including by disabling the unmanned aircraft system or drones.” Through objection and interference. or cause interference with wire, verbal, electronic or radio communications used to control the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft” and “use reasonable force to disable, damage or destroy the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.”