We must not expect our forward maneuver companies to defeat drone swarms flying low in the "brown skies" just above them while they carry out their ground combat missions.
The Army is rightly worried about enemy drone swarms hitting our troops in the field:
Since [ISIL defenders used commercial drones as their air force in the Battle for Mosul six years ago], the U.S. military has been running flat out trying to catch up to what is a rapidly evolving range of capabilities that are now causing havoc on battlefields and beyond. One ominous video posted by the commander of the U.S. Army's National Training Center sums up what our troops are going to be facing in the future and how the military is racing to prepare for it.
The problem of advanced, networked enemy drones requires a response even more than the home-adapted jihadi drones used in Mosul:
Countering such a swarm remains a major problem. Depending on the concept of operations, electronic warfare remains one of the best bets, especially for countering large groups of drones spread out in the sky, but everything from kinetic means — missiles and guns, as well as even other drones — to lasers and high-powered microwaves are deep in development or beginning to be fielded on a wider basis.
The one problem in defeating enemy drones that doesn't seem to be addressed is the burden on ground units trying to carry out their ground combat missions. Are we going to expect our tank and infantry companies to close with and destroy the enemy ground forces while lugging around and using anti-drone weapons sufficient to defeat an attacking drone swarm?
Really?
It's the "other drones" option of defeating enemy drone swarms that I proposed years ago in Army magazine, which I addressed in this blog post:
Can forward American troops carry ground-based systems that can fend off a drone swarm attack?
I don't think heavier air defense systems at higher echelons can protect American troops from small drone swarms operating low over the battlefield in the "brown skies" above our companies and platoons. High-flying F-35s certainly can't do the job.
My worry is that American small units can't carry around enough air defense systems to protect themselves from drone air attack while still carrying out their primary ground combat mission. I wrote about this in Army magazine.
The only way to do the job and free American combat units for their primary mission is to have combat air patrol drone swarms that the forward American combat units don't have to think about while they do their primary jobs.
We need many weapons to defeat drone threats from the front all the way back to airfields and logistics assets. Ground-based drone defenses are more useful the farther away from the front the targets are (and necessary against larger drones going deep into rear areas).
But for the forward maneuver companies in combat, if they spend all their energies and efforts keeping drone swarms from wiping them out, what use are they for winning the battle?
Only drone combat air patrols (DCAP) can protect the forward companies and protect their ability to carry out their primary mission of defeating enemy ground combat units.
NOTE: Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
