If you think you’re disgusted with our military and political “leaders,” you aren’t nearly disgusted enough. It turns out the Chinese balloon overflight of some of our most sensitive military installations was only the tip of what appears to be a planet-sized iceberg:

For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told [USAF General Mark] Kelly.

The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.

The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port.

Drones of that size with those speed and altitude capabilities aren’t for sale at the local WalMart. The article doesn’t say, but that kind of performance isn’t possible or practical with batteries, so the drones—“a parade of lawn mowers”-- were certainly fueled and propeller driven. The article also doesn’t say whether the USAF made any attempt to intercept or track the drones, and at those altitudes, they would surely have been visible to radar unless they were stealthed, in which case we know they weren’t civilian, hobbyist drones, and since they were seen and heard, they weren’t stealthy.

Government tries to avoid releasing embarrassing information, unless they have no choice, as in it was going to come out anyway, so it must be much, much worse than they’re revealing. We have no idea who sent the drones—they probably know--but even the dimmest new recruit can figure out who and why. China is the most obvious suspect, espionage the most likely reason, as well as testing our military’s apparent non-responses. Some of the tens of thousands of terrorists Kamala Harris has let into America?  Also possible.

As a public service, I’ll suggest, free of charge, several options for dealing with hostile drones, though to be fair I’m sure enlisted personnel probably have already made similar suggestions. 

Graphic:  AFSOC, Total Force landed MC-130J, MQ-9, A-10s, MH-6s on Wyoming Highways. Wikimedia Commons.org, Public Domain.

(1) Put light, fast helicopters on standby—the MH-6 Little Bird would be ideal--with several experienced airmen armed with semiautomatic shotguns. Intercept the drones and mindful of backdrop and probable crash sites, shoot them down. It’s a cheap and effective solution using off the shelf hardware and capabilities. If it’s night, inexpensive and powerful hand-held spotlights are available and the airmen can take turns spotlighting and shooting. They’ll have a blast!

(2) Use the same helicopters, but use microwave or similarly disruptive weapons to shoot down the drones. Alternatively, use a net-like projectile that can snare and destroy propellers.  Helos can get close enough to drones to make such weapons effective.

(3) Simply track them until they land and vector in assault teams to seize the drones, their take and their operators. 

(4) For smaller drones, light helicopter rotor wash alone might be enough to down them.

Perhaps I should bill the DOD several billion for developing these high-tech concepts?  Absent that, I’m sure the Pentagon would never consider them.  

Unfortunately, there do appear to be legal impediments to defending our national security and territorial integrity, which, considering our wide-open borders, is no surprise:

Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat. Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.

I’m sure the same people who won’t allow states to require voter ID won’t allow our military to shoot down enemy drones. After all, drones and their operators have rights too, don’t they?

Graphic: X Screenshot

Why did Joe Biden let a Chinese spy balloon fly across Alaska and the continental US, broadcasting its take to China all the while? He’s surely compromised by the Chinese and a variety of other hostile actors. They got their money’s worth. It’s a certainty a great many other Americans in positions of power in our government and military are similarly compromised. That or they’re DEI hires, people promoted for their fidelity not to America but to their gender, race or sexual orientation. They can be compromised and DEI hires too.

That our military apparently can’t, or won’t, protect our national security within our own faltering borders probably tells us all we need to know about our future chances.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.