© Google EarthRAF Lakenheath.
"The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size/configuration," a spokesperson for U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces in Africa (USAFE) told us "The UASs were actively monitored and installation leaders determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents or critical infrastructure."
There were unconfirmed reports that F-15E Strike Eagles were sent aloft to chase the drones and that flight operations at the base were affected. The Air Force did not immediately respond to those claims.
"To protect operational security, we do not discuss our specific force protection measures but retain the right to protect the installation," USAFE told us. "We continue to monitor our airspace and are working with host-nation authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets."
RAF Lakenheath houses an extremely important set of capabilities, most notably the U.S. Air Forces in Europe's only fourth and fifth-generation fighter wing and home to F-35A & F-15E tactical jets.
© USAFUSAF 494th Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagles seen returning to RAF Lakenheath on May 8, 2024. The jet in front has a number of red missile silhouettes painted above its name, “Hellcat,” that look to reflect air-to-air kills during its recently concluded deployment to the Middle East.
Two days before the Lakenheath drones were spotted, drones were seen over the U.S. Army's Picatinny Arsenal in northern New Jersey. The FBI has taken over the investigation into that incident, which you can read more about in our initial report here.
There has been an increase in intrusion events at home and abroad, and especially after the events over Langley AFB last winter, they are being looked at with much more concern. This now includes accelerating the deployment of military capabilities to identify and defeat drone systems near these key areas. However, it's worth noting that when it comes to defending homeland installations from drones, none of these countermeasures include directed energy weapons or kinetic systems, such as guns and missiles. You can read more about what is being done in our previous feature.
This is a developing story. We will update it with more information as it comes in.
Reader Comments
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Bentwaters was a USAF base on British soil and was home to (drum roll please) a nuclear weapon storage facility.
Nearby is a BAE experimental facility that's known for work on experimental drones and even speculative antigrav work.
In addition to this is the presence of the Orford Ness advanced radar facility where Over-The-Horizon Radar work took place under the code name Cobramist.
Locals tell of cars coming to dead stop with inexplicably drained batteries if one got too close to some of the aforementioned facilities.
It would appear that the UFO connection continues...
A done the size of an insect can still deliver homing devices such as smart dust.
The ultimate destination for those that follow a destructive path is...total destruction.
What you wish into existence IS your contribution to creation.
Not only would those tiny systems have to deal with less-than-ideal environmental influences. But there is a bigger problem. For sabotage, they lack the size to deliver a reasonable punch. and for espionage, they lack the power to get any gathered information out. Transmission power would be in the uW range, good for a few inches.
Either the Brits have a domestic issue, or a non-friendly nation parked a submarine nearby in international waters, and runs the spy drones from there. And by "unfriendly" nations, I explicitely include the US, France, and other European nations.