US Struggled to Stop Mystery Drones Over Sensitive Military Sites for Weeks, WSJ Reports

American officials were perplexed about how to respond to swarms of unidentified drones over US own mainland

A fleet of unidentified drones, undetected by US military defenses, penetrated restricted airspace and potentially conducted surveillance of a US military air base in Virginia over a period of 17 days in December. The Wall Street Journal revealed this information, citing dozens of US officials, police reports, and court documents.

Last December, swarms of drones were observed flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline – one of the select US bases housing F-22 Raptor stealth fighters – WSJ reported on Saturday.

General Mark Kelly, a former US Air Force commander, who became aware of the intrusions in December, estimated the lead unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be “roughly 20 feet long, flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 feet,” with other drones trailing behind. The drones flew in a pattern of one or two fixed-wing units accompanied by smaller quadcopters, roughly the size of 20-pound commercial drones, often operating at a lower altitude, the report said.

The dozens of drones moved south across Chesapeake Bay toward Norfolk and the base housing the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six special operations unit, as well as Naval Station Norfolk – a large naval port, Kelly noted.

When news reached the White House, officials reportedly engaged in brainstorming sessions to determine an appropriate response.

Military radars – designed to detect larger military aircraft and disregard anything resembling a bird – often failed to detect the drones and required recalibration. The offending quadcopters were also controlled on a radio frequency unavailable to off-the-shelf drones. Police attempted to pursue the drones, tracking their movements, but ultimately failed to identify their owners.

Authorities were hesitant about taking down the UAVs. Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases unless they pose an immediate threat – which does not include aerial spying, WSJ wrote. Jamming the drones was deemed risky to local 911 emergency systems and Wi-Fi networks. Using directed energy weapons to shoot them down was viewed as too risky to commercial aircraft.

On December 23, the flights ceased, with the perpetrators remaining a mystery, according to the report. Authorities failed to determine who was responsible for the flights but were reportedly convinced this unprecedented incursion was too complex to have been orchestrated by hobbyists.

This case is not the only instance of unidentified drones being spotted over critical US infrastructure. Two months prior, five drones were reportedly detected over the Nevada National Security Site, a US nuclear testing facility outside Las Vegas. Officials have yet to identify those behind that incursion.