U.S. forces deployed on the southern border may soon get the green light to take down suspicious drones operating overhead.
Transnational cartels may be operating these drones as a way to find gaps in ongoing multi-agency border security efforts, or to directly endanger those multi-agency personnel.
Testifying at a House Armed Services Committee on April 1, Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot—the commander of the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM)—took questions about the number of unidentified drones observed operating near military bases and other sensitive U.S. installations. Guillot, whose command covers North America and ongoing troop deployments along the U.S.-Mexico border, also took questions about suspected cartel drones operating along the border.
Rep. John McGuire (R-VA) said he recently learned about the prevalence of these suspected cartel drones during a recent Congressional delegation tour.
“What I heard from every one of those groups was they can see drones coming from Mexico, they can see where they’re coming from, and they’re hovering around our border patrol vehicles, they’re hovering around our military bases,” McGuire said. “And general, I heard you say that you had permission to shoot them down but I spoke with five different agencies and they all, as of a couple of weeks ago, said they were not sure.”
Guillot testified that 10 U.S. Code § 130i gives U.S. troops with the clear authority necessary to shoot down drones operating around established military bases and other sensitive installations. As for the border, he acknowledged the authority to shoot down drones is less clear.
“The forces on the border, at this time, are not, because they’re mobile,” the NORTHCOM commander said.
The Air Force general said he has requested an expansion of the 10 U.S. Code § 130i authority, to provide troops on the border with clear permission to take drones down.
The Cartel Drone Threat
Guillot’s request for an expanded shoot-down authority comes as an increasing number of U.S. troops are deploying along the border.
In his first day in office, President Donald Trump order an expanded U.S. military mission along the border. He also instructed his cabinet to evaluate whether they could designate cartels and other transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.
In February, the State Department officially designated the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Northeast Cartel (formerly Los Zetas), Gulf Cartel, the United Cartels in Mexico, the New Michoacan Family, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations
According to an October report by the U.K.-based private intelligence firm Grey Dynamics, drones have become an integral part of cartel operations. The organizations have may employ such drones for surveillance, drug smuggling, and even as weapons.
The cartels have even become such avid drone operators that they’ve established their on fabrication sites at Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Querétaro, and Tijuana, according to Grey Dynamics.
In February, the New York Post published excerpts of a memo they reportedly obtained from the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Paso Border Sector, which stated they’d “received information advising that Mexican cartel leaders have authorized the deployment of drones equipped with explosives to be used against U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. military personal currently working along the border with Mexico.”
Texas Authorities also reported two ranchers were killed and a third rancher was seriously injured in January, after they drove over what may have been an improvised explosive device. The explosive device was left along a trail in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, just a short distance from Brownsville, Texas.
US Counter-Drone Capabilities
U.S. forces may have a range of options at their disposal for intercepting suspected cartel drones.
For years, the military has been training with a range of jamming handheld jammer systems that they can use to interfere with an operator’s control capabilities, and in some cases force drones out of the sky.
The military has experimented with other non-kinetic means of stopping drones.
In 2019, the Marine Corps began training with a prototype known as the Compact Laser Weapon System (CLaWS), produced by Boeing. By 2021, the Marine Corpse published footage showing a successful test drone engagement using this system. In January of this year, however, the service revealed to Laser Wars that it had quietly pulled the plug and returned its CLaWS systems back to Boeing.
Explaining the decision to discontinue its CLaWS program spending, a Marine Corps spokesperson told Laser Wars that the service “decided to invest in more deliberate programs of record.” It’s not clear what these other programs may be.
At the end of the day, the preferred method for stopping cartel drones may be good old fashioned firepower.
The U.S. military has been closely monitoring the rapid evolution of drone warfare tactics in Ukraine for a guide. As explosive one-way attack drones have become more common, both Ukrainian and Russian forces have been using shotguns and other small arms to counter these threats.
U.S. military units, have increasingly trained to shoot down drones with machine-guns, rifles, and shotguns. Such firepower may be the time-tested way to bring a suspicious drone out of the sky, but that may not be a one-size fits all solution, particularly in populated areas along the border.
This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.
