Europe under extreme duress

[Brett327]

That’s why I said mission critical and linked to a story about B-52’s.

Which of our fighters aren’t mission critical?

 

[taxi1]

Which of our fighters aren’t mission critical?

So if you were a drone operator and could pick 10 aircraft to destroy, would you destroy 10 fighters or 10 heavy bombers?

The answer of course is you would destroy 10 E-2Ds, the real high value unit.

 

[Brett327]

So if you were a drone operator and could pick 10 aircraft to destroy, would you destroy 10 fighters or 10 heavy bombers?

The answer of course is you would destroy 10 E-2Ds, the real high value unit.

It really doesn't matter... the argument is the same. We're not going to eliminate the drone threat by putting all of our high value toys in a concrete box. There are a variety of approaches that don't involve a trillion dollar investment in infrastructure that will take a decade to build. Maybe the smart people in DC should be writing think pieces about hanging up some netting first.

This is not to say that HAS don't have a place in the overall c/UAS scheme, but putting every INCONUS B-52 in one is a dumb idea.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Whatever those drones were up to, they absolutely could’ve dropped down and took out a pile of B-52’s.

Between March 9-15, 2026, BAFB Security Forces observed multiple waves of 12-15 drones operating over sensitive areas of the installation, including the flight line, with aircraft displaying non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming,” the document said. “After reaching multiple points across the installation, the drones dispersed across sensitive locations on the base.”

That is cra-zy.

Question is: as it all comes down to funding, which aircraft should have full hardened shelters and which should simply have some type of anti-drone netting?

I don’t think the status quo of parking aircraft in neat lines (think Hickam Field on December 6th) is acceptable going forward considering the amount of damage that both long range Shahed type drones and short range quadcopter drones could inflict.

 

[GroundPounder]

Some hardened shelters for mission critical equipment may be needed not just overseas, but also stateside.

'Multiple waves' of unauthorized drones recently spotted over strategic US Air Force base

A drone sighting that temporarily raised alarms at one of the United States Air Force’s largest airfields this month was potentially more dangerous than first reported.

abcnews.com

I'm connected to a civilian location that has a very robust anti drone capability. I'm surprised that .mil locations are not several generations past what we have.

 

[taxi1]

I'm connected to a civilian location that has a very robust anti drone capability.

You Homer Simpson?

 

[Brett327]

Question is: as it all comes down to funding, which aircraft should have full hardened shelters and which should simply have some type of anti-drone netting?

Wrong question to be asking. The question is whether a HAS provides the level of risk reduction that would justify the expense of building ANY of them INCONUS. Your average regular hangar MILCON project costs about $200M. Making it reasonably attack-proof would probably add another $100M (at least). So that's $300M per aircraft, or $18B for the 60 or so B-52s we have. I think that's a conservative estimate.

When the COAs are presented to decision makers, you can understand why this price tag makes large scale construction of HAS to counter the UAS threat a non-starter. The cure would be worse than the disease. Now, keep in mind that these aircraft would still be vulnerable to attack any time they aren't in the HAS... taxiing, getting towed to the wash rack, opening/closing of HAS doors, etc. Even if we spent all that money and built all the HAS, the aircraft would still be at risk.