January 28th report from wall street journal It has been suggested that the US military was caught by surprise when enemy drones attacked US military facilities in Jordan. Thanks to new American technology, we have the ability to thwart such drone attacks, but we’re not there yet. During that time, three GIs were killed and dozens injured.
of journal report:
U.S. officials said Sunday that the attack took place overnight at Tower 22, a small Jordanian outpost near the Syrian border. Drones attack soldiers’ quarters, causing numerous casualtiessaid a US official. [emphasis added]
The report indicates that the residential area of Tower 22 was a “soft target.” That is, structures that are not “hardened” to protect the people inside.of journal continue:
Tower 22 is located near the al-Tanf camp in southeastern Syria, where U.S. forces are working with local partners to combat Islamic State militants. Tower 22 serves as Al Tanf’s logistics hub and is different from a garrison. It had not previously been targeted in the recent series of Iranian-backed militia attacks. [emphasis added]
Think tank analyst Andrew Tabler told the paper: “Tower 22 is probably more protected than al-Tanf and other US positions in Syria because it is located just across the Jordanian border. It will be inferior.”
Elmrod Usvaliyev/Anadolu, via Getty Images
In other words, these soldiers were logistics support personnel. They, or more appropriately their commanders, did not expect a drone attack. Hmm. Americans are fighting Iranian-backed terrorists and extremists but were not in Syria and did not expect the attack. They were in the neighboring country of Jordan.
Is that so? A failure of imagination? Like American leaders, they’re somewhere in the chain of command, from field to field. central command center To Washington DC—I couldn’t imagine That the enemy would reach across the border. These are the bad guys, including Iran, who routinely refer to the United States as “.”great devil” Yes, maybe so should It has been foreseen that desert lines mean nothing to anti-American murderers.
But let others worry about geopolitics, including the basic question of whether to fight in Syria. For now, let’s focus on keeping Americans safe everywhere in the world, including at home.
Those with long memories may recall the fate of early logistics units in the Middle East. 14th Quartermaster Detachment of the US Army Reserve. During Operation Desert Storm, the American mission to liberate Kuwait from Iraq, the 14th Supply Officer was working far behind the front lines, actually cleaning water in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, on February 25, 1991, an Iraqi Scud missile hit the 14th Division’s barracks. Unfortified facilities. Thirteen soldiers were killed and 43 wounded.
Sure, war is hell, but long-range missiles mean the “front lines” are everywhere. And with such adequate military preparation, and life support, the men and women of the 14th would have been better protected, entrenched, or more dispersed.
Coincidentally, the fate of the 14th was similar to that of another group of Americans all too close to home: Marines in a barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. truck blast Back in 1983. Hundreds of people died in the disaster. And if we want, we can go back to Pearl Harbor, the worst moment when the American people were caught off guard with too many eggs in the same basket. And yes, there is also the ultimate abject failure of imagination. It’s 9/11.
On December 7, 1941, an explosion occurred at the Naval Air Station on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor during a Japanese attack. Sailors stand in the wreckage and watch as her USS Shaw explodes in the center background. The USS Nevada is also visible in the center background, with her bow pointing to the left. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)
At 9:03 a.m. on September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston was hijacked in New York City and crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, exploding. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
Today’s big new challenge is drones. The United States has used drones for both surveillance and offensive missile strikes for decades. However, drones continue to get smaller, to the point where they are just a little larger than birds, and it is easy to form swarms that can “kamikaze” targets. The testbeds for much of this new technology are Ukraine and Russia. Both sides swarm the other with drones, and the familiar movements of tanks and infantry are no longer possible. Just on January 26th, russian military man “I saw a bunch of Ukrainian FPV,” I remembered. [first person view] Drones led by the Repeater Drone Queen. ” The air fleet descended on the Russian positions and began bombing. and this videoThe footage, released on January 22nd, shows a drone literally chasing a soldier in a circle before detonating it. It’s like a cartoon, but dying isn’t funny.
The drone is disruptive technology. They are very cheap to mass produce (Ukrainians make them from materials) cardboard) Being so agile (even civilians with mild training can FPV), it calls into question our ability to defend large assets, from tanks to bases to aircraft carriers. For example, you can’t expect a 17-foot-long Patriot missile to stop 100, 1,000, or 1 million drones. Even Israel’s proud Iron Dome was occasionally overwhelmed by volleys of Palestinian drones and homemade rockets. The idea of missile defense…was designed for missiles. These small drones are more like it. mosquito.
An attack drone flew over Kiev on October 17, 2022, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Therefore, even more recent air defense systems, coyoteThe Raytheon missile used in Tower 22 is still based on the idea of an anti-missile missile.
You can also add a stern warning note. Homefront is a huge soft target. There is probably no private residence or commercial office building in the United States that is safe from a drone attack. What will happen to public gathering places such as stadiums? fugeddaboudit. When it comes to U.S. government facilities, from military sites to the Capitol to the White House, well, you just have to take a look. But remember: The commanders of Tower 22 seemed to think there was nothing to worry about.Follow-up from wall street journal On January 29, the crew of Tower 22 announced that they had mistaken an incoming enemy drone for their own. Was it a technical failure? Of training?Or has the enemy become very good at deceiving? IFF? And if Americans can impersonate intruders from above in Jordan, can we impersonate them in America? Or, of course, another possibility: a whole story about sneaky enemy drones.? But it could also be a cover story of sorts. What is the cover for? Well, that’s the purpose of a thorough and impartial investigation, to get to the truth, whatever it is.
Fortunately, there is hope for defenders if we act wisely. This smartization involves a paradigm shift in thinking from dynamics to electronics. rather than defeating coming in projectile with Outgoing A new idea is to stop the launch with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). It is a blast of microwave energy that destroys the drone’s avionics and destroys its guidance. One of the big advantages of EMP is that it is relatively unlimited. It does not rely on “ammunition” as commonly understood, but rather on electronic “juice” which is cheaper and, of course, faster than the speed of light. Still, EMPs are not like science fiction force fields. An “astrodome” type shield is possible someday, but it would be energy intensive and would likely require a nearby nuclear reactor.
One company working on EMP (also known as HPM, high-power microwave, or simply directed energy) is based in Southern California. epirus. Launched in 2018, the product is named after a bow in Greek mythology that didn’t require arrows, just firing. Epirus’ co-founder is Joe Lonsdale. In 2003 he co-founded his Palantir. The company has emerged as a “major” defense contractor with a focus on big data and artificial intelligence. (Another new “major” contractor is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. )
Epirus has been awarded the Pentagon contract, but Lonsdale expressed frustration with the overall slowness of the process in an interview with Breitbart News on January 28. “There are a lot of smart generals and admirals who want change,” he says. Still, there is a sometimes thorny acquisition process that can be like molasses. Still, in the wake of the attack in Jordan, Lonsdale believes the pace of EMP deployment will accelerate. “This is a time for great leaders to do great things…lives are at stake.”
So that’s what we’re aiming for. Companies like Epirus and other tech-driven startups driven by the enthusiasm of young founders like Palmer Lackey’s Anduril are embracing the necessary paradigm of less aluminum and steel, more apps and zaps. They are pioneers of the shift. The United States will probably always need boots on the ground (even if some are robots), but soon the skies will be defended by the real-world realization of ray guns and photon torpedoes.
