DOD eyes tactical drones to accompany troops Trump is surging to the border
Defense leaders are weighing their options to deploy various types of military drones on the U.S.-Mexico border for information-collecting and surveillance operations in support of the Trump administration’s move to rapidly expand troop presence there, a senior military official told reporters Wednesday.
“A lot of the ground units now have tactical [unmanned aerial systems, or UAS] that they might bring in,” the official said during an off-camera briefing at the Pentagon.
On the condition of anonymity, they and another top defense official took questions from the media regarding the Defense Department’s first official statement about how its components plan to rapidly respond to President Donald Trump’s executive mandates to tighten security at America’s southern border with the support of the U.S. military.
The press briefing marked the first at the Pentagon since Trump re-entered office Monday, and it was attended by some of his administration’s first political appointees to trickle into the five-sided building. Border security was a major tenet of the president’s campaign commitments in the lead-up to this election and previously in 2016.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses issued a statement Wednesday revealing the department’s immediate plans for the expedited implementation of Trump’s executive orders pertaining to the border — including the employment of U.S. military forces for “directed missions.”
U.S. Northern Command is the operational lead for this multifaceted initiative, and Transportation Command and other elements of the services have been called on to assist. Teams from the Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard Bureau are also working in partnership with DOD to execute the administration’s vision.
Salesses confirmed in the statement that he officially approved the Pentagon’s plans to augment troops at the southwest border with orders for roughly 1,500 additional ground personnel, plus helicopters with associated crews, and teams of intelligence analysts to enhance “detection and monitoring” pursuits.
Further, he announced that DOD will supply military airlift for DHS deportation flights of more than 5,000 people who were detained by Customs and Border Protection in specific California and Texas sectors. The department will also aid in constructing temporary and permanent physical barriers to help counter illicit border crossings.
During the press briefing, the senior defense official emphasized: “This is the initial effort that we can do right away, and then we anticipate many additional missions after this. This is just the start.”
The additional troops will consist of 1,000 soldiers and 500 Marines who are going to join about 2,500 military personnel already deployed in border operations, the senior defense official said, adding at the time of the Wednesday afternoon briefing that the first of these EO-supporting missions was expected to begin over the following 24 to 48 hours.
According to the senior military official, the Air Force is sending C-17s and C-130s to remove the DHS-detained deportees.
“We also anticipate that there could be some additional airborne intelligence, surveillance and support assets that would move down to the border to increase situational awareness,” they said.
In response to reporters’ questions, the officials confirmed that military leaders are considering the deployment of tactical UAS to complement troops’ efforts on the ground near Mexico.
“They can provide localized intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in their particular area. Obviously, the Army’s got MQ-1s, Air Force has MQ-9s, over various times in the past provided some level of support. And then you have manned platforms that could fly in support as well. So, that is still not fully decided yet. We’re waiting to refine what the requirement is working with NorthCom on that — but we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve dubbed it out a bit,” the military official said.
Under DOD’s current drone policy, the military can perform UAS operations domestically in support of a request from federal or state civilian authorities, but only with the defense secretary’s explicit approval.
The guidance also states that the military can only deploy armed drones in the U.S. for training, exercise, and testing purposes.
A defense spokesperson said on Wednesday that they could not immediately answer DefenseScoop’s questions regarding any potential governmentwide or DOD policy changes associated with domestic U.S. military drone flights.
NorthCom spokespersons did not respond to requests for more information by publication on Thursday.
