WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has signed off on a new policy that
will allow military bases to shoot down private or commercial drones that are
deemed a threat, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said Monday.
The policy itself is classified and was transmitted to the
services in July, Davis said. Broadly, it outlines the rules of engagement for
a base when a private or commercial drone is encroaching upon its airspace.
On Friday, unclassified guidance was sent to each of the services
on how to communicate the new policy to local communities.
The installations “retain the right of self-defense when it comes
to UAVs or drones operating over [them,]” Davis said. “The new guidance does
afford of the ability to take action to stop these threats and that includes
disabling, destroying and tracking.”
Davis said the private or commercial drones could also be seized.
However, in some instances where the military leases land for
operations, the use of a drone may not always be a threat — and who owns
the airspace may not always be clear.
The Air Force, for example, maintains its arsenal Minuteman III
nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles in 150 underground silos in vast
fields around Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. But the land is only leased
from commercial and private farmers who use the rest of the area for crops or
livestock. Those farmers sometimes find it easier to launch a drone to check on
their cows or agriculture than to cover the miles by foot or truck.
As of last fall, the sky above the silos at Minot AFB was also not
previously restricted airspace.
It was not immediately clear whether the new policy has changed
access to the airspace above the silos or at other bases.
The policy would affect 133 military installations, DOD
said.
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