US Operators Must Be Worried About Threats From Above

• Their rapid growth as combat tools is evident by the widespread use of drones throughout Ukraine.
• The US military has been closely monitoring drones’ use in recent conflicts.
• According to US officials, the spread of drones has made it clear that US troops must be prepared to face threats from above.

The battlefield is changing, especially for US special operations, which now have to account fo threats that weren’t there a few months ago or even years ago.

US Special Operations Command is just like the rest, paying close attention to developments in Ukraine.

Drones are one the most intriguing, yet also concerning developments. Both Kyiv and Moscow have drones that hover in the sky above Ukraine dropping improvised munition on soldiers, leading artillery fire, identifying enemy formations and taking out armored vehicles.

While Ukraine’s military claims that it has destroyed over 1,000 Russian drones in combat, unmanned aerial vehicles continue to grow. Russia has heavily invested in loitering weapons, purchasing Iranian-made Shahed136 Drones and widely using them. For civilian infrastructureInternational attention is paid to it.

Ukraine also uses its fair share unmanned aerial vehicles. The Ukrainian military and the public have demonstrated an admirable ability to adapt to war and find solutions within their means to defeat the larger Russian military.

Ukrainian civilians have used commercial drones for military purpose, including kinetic strikes, intelligence and reconnaissance, as well as surveillance operations.

The US special-operations team is closely monitoring these developments and is taking lessons from Ukraine’s experience to help prepare for the next fight.

Special operators vs. drones

The US military, in particular its special-operations group, Since years, drones have been in useBut, US special operations are used to operating under conditions in which they have total air superiority. This means that nothing in the sky can be a threat to their operation.

It was not a permanent superiority, and it was eroded during the fight against ISIS and Syria in the latter part of 2010.

The outgoing commander of SOCOM Gen. Richard Clarke spoke about the drone problem this summer and the special-operations community’s approach to it.

Clarke stated at the Aspen Security Conference that he has “never had” to look up in his nearly forty-year career in the Army when he was on the ground in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria.

Clarke stated that he never needed to look upwards because the US maintained air superiority, and that our forces were protected by air cover. “But with quad-copters so small and large, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles of all sizes, that luxury is no longer available to us.”

In the years following the Korean War, US ground troops were not killed by enemy air attacks and US aircraft were seldom shot down. But US commanders have been. Their aerial advantage may end soon, but they should be warned.

Clarke compared drones with improvised bomb devices (or IEDs), which insurgents were capable of building on a large-scale to attack US troops overseas. Clarke was interviewed by Joint Forces Quarterly this year.

Clark stated that drones are “the IEDs for the future”. “Everyone remembers 2003-2004 when the number one killer of our forces was IEDs — first in Iraq, and then it transitioned into Afghanistan. The IED can now move and has wings. The wire connecting the IED to the remote device or IED is now more difficult to break.

Getting to the ‘left’ of launch

In general, US special operators are able to take out unmanned aerials systems in two ways.

The first involves traditional kinetic action. This means that the drone is shot down using small-arms fire, or anti-aircraft rockets. The second involves electronic warfare. This is where the drone’s flight control is jammed so it can’t perform its mission.

Clarke said SOCOM is interested in another way to disrupt enemy drones — by preventing enemies from getting them in the first place.

SOCOM has developed ways to counter unmanned aircraft in the air. It is also “looking for places we can be ‘left-of-launch’ to disrupt supply chains and transportation. [and]Clarke, who was a retired military officer in August, said that development should be done before it is too late.

Clarke spoke at the conference in July and said that SOCOM, Pentagon, US intelligence agencies, and other countries have the opportunity to collaborate to prevent adversary drones launching.

“What are these supply chains, what are the intel, and what are our norms of conduct for countries who will use these drones?” Clarke spoke.

This type of intervention is possible to be difficult, since adversaries are creating resilient supply chains. Iran continues Drones and missile development despite tight US sanctions. Russia, which is under increasing Western sanctions, is likely do the same. China has also invested heavily in its own military capabilities.

Clarke also mentioned that an interagency coalition would be required to counter adversaries using intelligence efforts, rather than military force.

But drones are here for the long haul, and while they present a threat to US forces “the current problem”, Clarke said in July that Clarke was aware of it, Clarke added that attention must also be paid to “what’s next.”

Clarke stated that some of these technologies could be used to attack our enemies on the near abroad or in our country.

Stavros is a defense journalist with a specialization in special operation. He is also a Hellenic Army vet (national service with 575th Marine Battlion and Army headquarters) and a Johns Hopkins University student. Atlamazoglou is pursuing a master’s program in strategy, cybersecurity at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.