Pentagon Opening School for Combating Drone Threats

The Pentagon is creating a new school to train military members in how to identify and stop threats posed by drones, Defense News reports.

Lt. Col. David Morgan of the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office said at an open house last month that there is no training program that specifically focuses on threats from drones.

“There are currently no joint linkages or commonality to counter-UAS training across the department,” he said at the time, according to Defense News.

“Every service is executing service-specific training. The average soldier, airman or Marine lacks adequate counter-UAS training. It’s not fully embedded in the [program of instruction] from basic training onward,” Morgan added.

To combat this, the Pentagon will establish a counter-small UAS academy and a joint counter-small UAS education program. The UAS academy is currently planned to be located at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, and will rely on instructions that were developed in Arizona at Yuma Proving Ground. The academy should be ready for initial operation capabilities by fiscal year 2024 and fully operational by fiscal year 2025.

• Report: Swarm of Drones Invaded Nation's Largest Nuclear Power Plant Last Year
• Amazon Wins FAA Approval to Deliver Packages by Drone