U.S. Air Force Buys Chinese Drones to Support Defence of Key Nuclear Missile Base
Military Watch Magazine Editorial Staff
The U.S. Air Force is procuring Chinese-made DJI drones for use at one of the three U.S. bases operating Minuteman III intercontinental range ballistic missiles, namely F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. The drones will be used by the 90th Missile Security Operations Squadron to train personnel and test counter-unmanned aircraft systems against the specific types of commercial drones they are most likely to encounter in a real-world threat environment. While there has been a significant trend towards the U.S. Department of Defense relying on components and other inputs from China, and East Asia more broadly, in its supply chains since the end of the Cold War, ‘off the shelf’ procurements of Chinese equipment specifically to train against them remains unprecedented.
The Air Force is seeking two refurbished DJI Mavic 2 Pro quadcopters, two DJI Mini 3 Pro drones and two DJI Avata 2 systems, together with associated equipment. The order also includes six airdrop payload-release devices. The Air Force intends to use the aircraft in counter-drone exercises involving radar, electronic warfare and other systems designed to detect, disrupt or defeat small unmanned aircraft. A justification document stated that DJI holds an estimated 80–85 percent share of the global commercial drone market and possesses proprietary radio-frequency signatures, electronic protocols and flight characteristics that are not replicated by U.S. manufacturers.
The requirement is particularly significant because F.E. Warren's security forces are responsible for protecting a major U.S. nuclear weapons installation. The Air Force justification described the mission as a “no-fail nuclear security mission” and argued that failure to train against the actual hardware and communications signatures of likely adversary drones would create a potentially serious vulnerability. Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, another Minuteman III installation, is reportedly pursuing or already using similar DJI platforms for counter-drone training.
Drones will be modified with software known as RIZER before operational use. The Air Force says the software will override the aircraft's native firmware and create an air-gapped configuration intended to prevent telemetry or imagery from being transferred to foreign entities or U.S. Department of War networks. The procurement can consequently provide realistic training against DJI systems while attempting to isolate the Chinese hardware from sensitive military networks. It highlights the growing importance of commercially available drones in military security, with systems such as DJI's Mavic and Avata families being inexpensive, widely available and technically sophisticated enough to reproduce many of the characteristics that military counter-UAS systems must now defeat.
This is a similar arrangement with Cold War era CCCP platforms which were secretly purchased or stolen in order to provide realistic training to attack or defend against.
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