Drones

March 29 (UPI) — Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, issued a warning Saturday against a possible ground troop invasion as the U.S. military sends more troops to the region.

Ghalibaf made the comments in a message marking 30 days since the start of the war. The United States and Israel began strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 in their efforts to diminish the country’s nuclear weapons program.

Ghalibaf accused the United States of secretly planning a ground invasion of Iran. On Saturday, two U.S. ships arrived in the region carrying 3,500 U.S. service members as well as fighter jets, transport aircraft, amphibious assault vessels and other tactical assets. More troops were expected, U.S. Central Command said.

“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation while secretly planning a ground invasion — unaware that our men are waiting for American troops to enter on the ground, ready to unleash devastation upon them and punish their regional allies,” Ghalibaf said, as reported by CNN.

Last week, the Trump administration proposed a 15-point peace plan with Iran. President Donald Trump also ordered a 10-day halt on strikes against Iranian energy sites, though Israel carried out its own attacks on energy sites Friday.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Iran had not responded to the peace proposal.

“The United States speaks of its aspirations, presenting what it failed to achieve in war as a 15-point list to pursue through diplomacy,” Ghalibaf said.

“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, the answer of your sons remains clear: ‘Far be it from us to accept humiliation.'”

Ghalibaf’s message came in the wake of a Saturday report by The Washington Post that the Defense Department has drawn up plans for a weeks-long ground operation in Iran. Officials told The Post the plan isn’t considered a full-scale ground invasion, but would involve Special Operations forces and infantry troops.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement in response to the possibility of ground troops in Iran.

“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander in chief maximum optionality,” she said. “It does not mean the president has made a decision.”

Iran has launched attacks on Israeli and other U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf region, including one Sunday on a military camp in Kuwait, which killed 10 Kuwaiti service members. The army said it detected 14 ballistic missiles and 12 hostile drones in Kuwaiti airspace over the previous 24 hours. Since the start of the war, it has monitored more than 300 ballistic missiles, 2 cruise missiles and more than 600 hostile drones.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials said emergency officials were working on a large fire that broke out at a hazardous materials factory at the Neot Hovav industrial complex, The Guardian reported. The Israeli military blamed “a weapon fragment or interceptor fragment” for the damage and fire.

March 24 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth plans to request $200 billion in funding from Congress as the cost of the United States’ war with Iran grows.

The request comes on top of an already record-setting Pentagon budget passed by Congress last year. Transparency over how funds are being spent continues to dwindle, experts told UPI.

As of March 15, 16 days into the war, it had cost the United States about $12 billion, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview on Face the Nation.

Linda Bilmes, a Harvard Kennedy School professor and former assistant secretary and chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Clinton administration, told UPI the reported cost is “just the very tip of the huge iceberg.”

“The $11 billion or whatever it is that they’re quoting is just the immediate operational spend in terms of munitions and fuel and such in the first couple weeks,” Bilmes said. “That doesn’t cover any kind of medium-term expenditures around reset, repair, resupply, replenishment of weapons and systems and munitions and so forth, which is a much bigger number.”

“We’ve probably spent at least $40 billion if you bring into account already everything that has been spent and the fact that it needs to be restocked in the inventory,” Bilmes said.

There are also longer-term costs yet to come, such as the lifetime disability benefits that some 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East will be eligible to receive.

“The vast majority of them have been exposed to toxins, contamination from oil fumes, formaldehyde, benzine, all of these things that are in the air,” Bilmes said.

In a 2011 study, Bilmes estimated that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would pay up to $1 trillion in benefits to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the subsequent 30 to 40 years. In 2021, that estimate increased to $2.5 trillion as the war in Afghanistan continued until August of that year.

During a press briefing last week, Hegseth said the $200 billion request to Congress would be to “ensure that our ammunition is refilled and not just refilled but above and beyond.”

“That’s like the [gross domestic product] of Hungary, the GDP of New Zealand. Medium-sized countries have GDPs the size of just this increase,” Bilmes said. “That’s $1,500 for every household in America.”

The cost of war continues to increase for U.S. taxpayers. The U.S. military is using some advanced weapons technologies, such as AI-powered systems in combat for the first time in the Iran war. Defense contractors are preparing to increase their production of weapons for the United States four times over, President Donald Trump said following a meeting with several earlier this month.

“They have agreed to quadruple production of the ‘Exquisite Class’ weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity,” Trump posted on social media on March 6. “Expansion began three months prior to the meeting and plants and production of many of these weapons are already underway.”

Trump did not clarify which companies were a part of the meeting, nor did he define what “exquisite class weaponry” is.

Bill Hartung, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told UPI it is becoming increasingly challenging to analyze defense spending as the Pentagon has become less transparent.

Hartung’s research focuses on the arms industry and the U.S. military budget. He is the former director of the Arms and Security Program and the Center for International Policy and co-director of its Sustainable Defense Task Force.

When the United States began sending defense aid to Ukraine in 2022, the government would periodically report what weapons it was sending and the types of training missions it was involved in. That is yet to take place for the war in Iran.

“In this war, really other than a leak, they really haven’t put out much in the way of justification or what exactly is being spent,” Hartung said. “They haven’t put out even a detailed budget this year the way they normally would. Normally an administration that’s been in power a while puts it out in early February. Now, we’re kind of flying blind as to what it’s exactly all going to.”

Transparency has waned from the Pentagon over the course of years. Funding put toward defense in last year’s budget reconciliation was marked in broad categories, rather than a more detailed, itemized budget.

Hartung said it was not the “normal budget process” and that hearings over the Pentagon’s budget lacked the same level of substance and oversight of years passed.

In July, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense published its budget request for program acquisitions for the 2026 fiscal year. It requested $179.1 billion dedicated to research, development, test and evaluation of major weapon systems, $205.2 billion for procurement and $961.7 billion for total Department of Defense research and procurement. This accounts for about 40% of the department’s total funding.

The reconciliation bill passed by Congress added $150 billion in new defense spending, increasing the department’s total budget to more than $1 trillion.

Among the biggest expenditures approved by Congress were more than $25 billion for munitions and supply chain resiliency, $24 billion for integrated air and missile defense, $29 billion for shipbuilding, and $14 billion for enhancing resources for nuclear forces.

About $10 million was approved for department oversight.

The longer the war continues, the greater the cost will be to the United States. Then comes the matter of reconstruction.

The United States has historically been involved in reconstruction efforts following wars it was engaged in, including World War II and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The U.S. government spent about $141 billion on reconstruction in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2021, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported.

The war with Iran has spread beyond its borders already. As of Monday, Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said that at least 40 energy sites have been damaged in the war, including sites belonging to U.S. allies.

Whether and to what extent the United States would be involved in reconstruction efforts in Iran and among affected allies is another variable that will not be known until the fighting stops.

Beyond the budget implications is the human cost of war. Hartung said, depending on the decision to put U.S. troops on the ground in Iran, the toll paid by service members could be larger yet. At least 13 U.S. troops have already been killed in action.

The Iran Health Ministry reported earlier this month that more than 1,200 civilians have been killed. Among them are at least 165 people killed in a strike on an elementary school for girls in Minab, Iraq. Many of the victims in the school bombing were children.

A preliminary investigation by the U.S. military has found that the United States is likely responsible for the deadly strike on the school by a Tomahawk missile on Feb. 28. The United States is the only country involved in the war that uses Tomahawk missiles.

The cost of the operation that killed the victims at the elementary school likely exceeds $1 million. A Tomahawk missile costs about $2 million.

“It could have been a million or two to hit that one target,” Hartung said. “They do have a small drone-like system they’ve been using that’s like $35,000 each but I don’t know exactly what they used. A cruise missile’s $2 million but then some of the other bombs could be a few hundred thousand but it’s remarkable how much even one strike can cost. Some of the planes are thousands or tens of thousands an hour.”

Unlike the Vietnam and Korean War and those that preceded them, the United States does not pay for its modern war efforts by raising taxes. Instead, it incurs an ever-growing debt that now accounts for about 17% of the government’s budget in fiscal year 2026.

Bilmes is writing about the changing approach to funding war in her upcoming book The Ghost Budget: Paying for America’s Wars. It is due to be released in the fall.

“We’ve borrowed every penny that has been spent right now. We’re just adding to the debt,” Bilmes said.

As the United States takes on more debt to fund a growing defense budget, it has also cut taxes, reducing revenues.

“Arguably, our approach to this, in engaging in another war of choice, is positioning us closer to another major economic crisis,” Bilmes said.

March 19 (UPI) — A 20-year-old student from University of Alabama reported missing in Barcelona, Spain, after an evening at a nightclub was found dead Thursday, authorities announced.

Barcelona police said the body of James “Jimmy” Gracey of Elmhurst, Ill., was found on Somorrostro beach near the Shoko Barcelona nightclub where he was last seen, a representative from the Barcelona police said in a statement to CNN.

“Everything points to it being an accident, not a criminal act,” the statement said.

CBS News reported slightly different details about where Gracey’s body was found, saying authorities recovered his body after sending out boats, divers and drones to search the sea.

The El Periódico newspaper in Spain reported that sources told them Gracey’s wallet was found floating in the sea, but officials have not confirmed it.

Gracey traveled to Spain for spring break to visit friends studying abroad. His family said he visited Shoko Barcelona, a nightclub near the Villa Olimpica area, Monday and disappeared early Tuesday morning after being separated from his friends at the club.

The family said he was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, dark pants that were likely joggers and a gold chain with a rhinestone cross. He is 6 feet 1 inches tall and about 175 pounds.

Gracey’s family released a statement after news of his discovery was released.

“We are so grateful for the kindness and concern that has been shown for our family during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement read. “We have made the decision to pause media interviews at this time to focus on being together and caring for one another. Thank you for respecting our privacy and holding our family in your thoughts.

Before his body was found, Gracey’s aunt, Beth Marren O’Reilly, told NBC News that his “parents got a phone call that his phone was picked up, and that’s what drove them to be worried.”

Shoko Nightclub told CBS News Chicago that it has given the security video of that night to local police.

Cavin McLay, junior and president of the university’s Theta Chi fraternity, said he learned from a friend that Gracey was missing, NBC reported. He said he was told that a group at the club got separated, “and that was the last time they saw him.”

“My heart sank to my stomach. It’s definitely not a good text to wake up to,” he said.

The group that Gracey was out with said they didn’t have any encounters that made them worried for their safety before Gracey disappeared, McLay told NBC.

McLay said he was not staying with the same group of friends as Gracey and that there are about 10 friends visiting for spring break.

“Jimmy is a kind, responsible and devoted son and brother,” his parents, Taras and Therese Gracey, said in a statement. “It is completely out of character for him not to check in with family and friends.”

“He’s a great big brother, he’s a great son, he’s a great nephew, he’s just very beloved,” O’Reilly said. “He’s a very responsible kid, which is why we’re very worried. This is pretty out of character for him not to be in touch with friends and family.”

The U.S. Department of State is helping the family, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he has been in touch with the family.

“UA staff are in touch with the family and those associated with them to offer support and assistance in any way possible,” a spokesperson from the university said.

March 19 (UPI) — Iran on Thursday attacked major energy facilities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after vowing to retaliate for Israel striking its gas field a day earlier, escalating a war that is driving up energy prices and rattling global markets.

Qatar said Iranian ballistic missiles struck its Ras Laffan Industrial City, the centerpiece of the nation’s LNG production and export, while the United Arab Emirates said its Habshan gas facilities and Bab field had come under attack.

Several liquefied natural gas facilities at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is responsible for about one-fifth of global LNG supplies, were struck early Thursday, igniting what state-owned QatarEnergy said in a statement were “sizeable fires.” Extensive damage was reported.

Two of three fires that ignited from the attack were contained as of 5 a.m. local time Thursday, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior.

Iran attacked the complex’s Pearl gas-to-liquids facility late Wednesday, which was dealt “extensive damage” and prompted emergency teams to be deployed to the site.

Rockets launched at the UAE facilities were successfully intercepted, but falling debris prompted Abu Dhabi authorities to respond to unspecified incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and the Bab gas field, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.

The facilities have been shut down in response, it said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Iran also targeted gas facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, but all projectiles and drones were intercepted, its Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The attacks mark an escalation in the war, and come after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field, one of the world’s largest resources of natural gas.

Israel’s attack was condemned by several countries, including Qatar. Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said it was “a dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region.”

“Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region & its environment,” he said in a statement.

Following Iran’s attack on Wednesday night, Qatar gave Tehran’s embassy officials 24 hours to leave the country.

The targeting of Persian Gulf energy facilities is expected to further drive surging energy costs. On Thursday, Brent crude reached nearly $110 a barrel, up sharply from $71 before the war began in late February.

Iran had vowed to attack the region’s energy facilities after Israel attacked its South Pars gas field.

Oil facilities “associated with America are now on par with American bases and will come under fire with full force,” Alireza Tangsiri, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy, said on X.

“You have heard a lot about #hell; we will paint its picture for you,” the IRGC said Thursday in a social media statement.

“Stay away from energy facilities…”

Following the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that there would be no more Israeli attacks on the South Pars field.

Trump claimed the United States “knew nothing” about Israel’s plan to attack the gas site and that Qatar was also neither involved.

He said Iran was unaware of that, but warned that if it again attacks Qatar, the United States will join Israel and “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars gas field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

March 18 (UPI) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defended U.S. military strikes on Iran during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday, calling them a strategic success.

Senators challenged Gabbard to reconcile the words of President Donald Trump with the intelligence her department has received on Iran. When pressed, Gabbard yielded that Trump has the final say on what threats the United States faces.

When the United States performed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, Trump said Iran’s nuclear capabilities were “obliterated.” Earlier this month, he said Iran’s development of nuclear weapons posed an imminent nuclear threat to national security, justifying military action.

Gabbard affirmed Wednesday that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was “obliterated” in the June strikes.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” Gabbard said. “That is up to the president, based on a volume of information he receives.”

Gabbard was once a vocal opponent of engaging in a war with Iran, even selling shirts that read “No War With Iran” in 2019 while she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Iran is one of the United States’ top adversaries, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s “Annual Threat Assessment” said. China, Russia and North Korea are also on that list.

In the 19 days since the war with Iran began, Gabbard said the Iranian regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded.”

“Even so, Iran and its proxies remain capable of and continue to attack U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East,” Gabbard said. “The IC assesses that if a hostile regime survives it will seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its missiles and UAV forces.”

Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia report new blasts, interceptions, with war edging to 3-week mark.

Iran has fired missiles and drones at several Gulf Arab nations, which have sought to intercept them, in a now-daily fallout from the United States-Israel war launched on Iran nearly three weeks ago that has engulfed the Middle East with deaths, destruction, assassinations, and an energy crisis spreading far beyond the region.

Early Tuesday, Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said its armed forces intercepted a missile attack against the country.

The Kuwait National Guard said it shot down an unmanned aircraft at dawn. The statement came hours after the Kuwaiti army said it was intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have also reported intercepting missiles and drones in recent hours.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense reported the interception and destruction of a drone in the Eastern Region.

Earlier Tuesday, the UAE Ministry of Defence said the country’s air defences were “currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”. The announcement came four hours after another reported attack from Iran. Later, a loud bang was heard in Dubai as authorities said air defences were dealing with a missile threat.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Dubai, said, “The UAE has been the hardest hit by Iran’s retaliation. For instance, there have been 3000 different projectiles – missiles and drones – fired at GCC countries by Iran in terms of its retaliation. More than half, well over half, have targeted places in the UAE. Overnight was no different … Multiple explosions heard throughout the city.

“That glow of defensive weapons and interceptions in the night skies, something that has become all too familiar, not just in Dubai, but in cities across the GCC. Once again seen over the skies here.

“Dubai’s media office confirming that they were the result of air defence interception operations,” he added.

There have been several deaths in the Gulf nations, where an economic effect is also being acutely felt since the war began.

Gulf economies bear brunt of Iran war

The economies of the Gulf are suffering some of the worst damage.

Iran has launched continuous attacks on Gulf states since the onset of the conflict on February 28, arguing that it is attacking military bases used by the US for the war. Gulf nations have rejected Tehran’s claims, insisting the attacks on them are unjustified.

The Iranian strikes have upended energy production and inflicted major disruption to tourism and travel, putting the region at risk of some of the most severe economic harm since the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

After nearly three weeks of war, the economic effect on the region has already been substantial.

Middle Eastern oil producers’ daily output declined from 21 million barrels to 14 million barrels after a little more than a week of conflict as they deal with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Rystad Energy.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says Moscow and Tehran are ‘brothers in hatred’; claims Iran’s drones ‘contain Russian components’.

More than 200 Ukrainian military experts are in the Gulf region and wider Middle East helping governments in their defence against Iran’s drone attacks, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

In an address to dozens of members of the United Kingdom Parliament in London on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader said 201 Ukrainian anti-drone experts are in the region and another 34 “are ready to deploy”.

“These are military experts, experts who know how to help, how to defend against Shahed drones,” Zelenskyy said in his speech, referring to the Iranian-designed “kamikaze” drones that Russia has been using in its war against Ukraine since 2022.

“Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait,” the Ukrainian leader said.

“We are working with several other countries – agreements are already in place. We do not want this terror of the Iranian regime against its neighbours to succeed,” he said.

Last week, the Ukrainian leader said military teams had been sent to several Gulf states and Jordan.

Zelenskyy, who met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO chief Mark Rutte earlier on Tuesday, said Russia had received the Shahed-136 drones from the Iranians, who had “taught Russia how to launch them and gave it the technology to produce them”.

“Russia then upgraded them. And now we have clear evidence that Iranian Shaheds used in the region contain Russian components,” Zelenskyy said, describing the drones as designed for “low-cost destruction of expensive critical infrastructure”.

“So what is happening around Iran today is not a faraway war for us, because of the cooperation between Russia and Iran,” he said.

“The regimes in Russia and Iran are brothers in hatred, and that is why they are brothers in weapons. And we want regimes built on hatred to never win – in anything,” he added.

The Ukrainian leader then addressed his country’s newly developed prowess in drone warfare and manufacturing, claiming that 90 percent of Russian losses on the front lines in Ukraine are being “caused by our drones”.

Ukraine has moved on from making sea and aerial drones to producing interceptors that target drones, he said, adding that Ukraine is capable of producing at least 2,000 interceptors per day – half of which are required for its own defence and the remainder available for use by Kyiv’s allies.

“If a Shahed needs to be stopped in the Emirates – we can do it. If it needs to be stopped in Europe or the United Kingdom – we can do it. It is a matter of technology, investment, and cooperation,” he said.

While Ukraine has become one of the world’s leading producers of sophisticated, battlefield-proven drone interceptors, US President Donald Trump has said he does not need Ukraine’s help with countering Tehran’s drones targeting military targets in the Middle East.

After meeting with Zelenskyy at 10 Downing Street, Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin “can’t be the one who benefits from the conflict in Iran, whether that’s oil prices or the dropping of sanctions”.

During Zelenskyy’s visit on Tuesday, London and Kyiv signed a deal on a “defence partnership”, which is said to combine “Ukraine’s expertise and the UK’s industrial base to manufacture and supply drones and innovative capabilities”.

March 17 (UPI) — Speaking to the British Parliament on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the rise of artificial intelligence and inexpensive drone technology has made “mass drone warfare” quicker and more common across the globe.

“The evolution of threats never stops,” he said in a speech touting Ukraine‘s advances in technology allow the country to defend against and monitor attacks by Russia.

During his visit to Britain, Zelensky also met with King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with whom he agreed to a partnership to boost global defensive capabilities across Europe to protect against a rise in low-cost, high-tech military technology. The agreement capitalizes on Ukraine’s technological expertise and Britain’s industrial ability to manufacture and supply resources, the British government said.

Britain plans to invest $667,000 in an AI center in Kyiv.

Zelensky told Parliament that Ukraine faces nearly nightly attacks from Russia and uses nearly 1,000 interceptor drones each day to protect the country. He said Ukraine can produce interceptors on that scale, but the country needs a system in place to stop the attacks by Russia and Iran, which is using weaponry made from Russian supplies.

Zelensky pointed to the military bases in Cyprus as an example, The Guardian reported.

“This is what our security proposal could look like. Our experts would place interception teams and set up radars and acoustic coverage, and these would all work if Iran launched a large-scale attack similar to Russian attacks,” he told Parliament.

“We would guarantee protection. This is the kind of reinforcement we offer, and it may soon be needed across Europe.”

During their meeting at No. 10 Downing Street, Starmer told Zelensky that “the focus must remain on Ukraine” despite new conflict in Iran, the BBC reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “can’t be the one who benefits from a conflict in Iran, whether that’s oil prices or the dropping of sanctions.” He was referring to the United States’ recent easing of sanctions on Russian oil to combat rising gas and diesel prices.

Zelensky offered his thanks to Starmer for the support from Britain.

“You have stood with us all through this difficult winter,” Zelensky said.

The United Nations is warning that rapidly escalating drone warfare in Sudan has killed more than 200 people in little over a week as schools, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure become targets.

March 16 (UPI) — Kenya and Russia announced on Monday that Kenyans will no longer be recruited by the Russian military and sent to fight in Ukraine.

The move follows a Kenyan intelligence report indicating that more than 1,000 people from Kenya and other African nations in recent months have been recruited into deployment on the front lines of the war between Russia and Ukraine by “rogue” agencies participating in human trafficking.

The report, released in February, alleged that of Kenyans recruited for the war, 10 died, 28 were missing, 39 were hospitalized and others were fighting for Russia in Ukraine, The Kenyan Daily Post reported.

“We have agreed that Kenyans will no longer be enlisted for special operations through the defense ministry,” Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said during a news conference. “They will no longer be eligible to be enlisted.”

The nations also were expected to sign a labor agreement aimed at protecting Kenyans working in Russia — specifically in drone manufacturing — which will cover people working specifically for the military or for other related industries, he said.

Mudavadi told The BBC that Kenya has shut down more than 600 agencies that were lying to Kenyans about a range of possible jobs in Russia and other countries, with many ending up in Ukraine.

Russia has not given answers to relatives at its embassy in Kenya, nor has it commented on reports that human traffickers were fooling people into being enlisted in the war with lies about well-paid jobs.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Lavrov said during the news conference that all foreign fighters, including those from Kenya, had not been coerced or lied to and their voluntary service complied with Russian law.

“Once a contract is terminated, the individual is no longer bound and is free to make their own decisions,” Lavov said, although Kenyans who have volunteered to join the war have to find and pay for their own travel home.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, alleged in November that at least 1,400 people from Africa from 36 countries have been sent to Ukraine by Russia, many of whom have been captured as prisoners of war.

March 16 (UPI) — Emergency services in the United Arab Emirates were battling a major blaze at the country’s strategically key Fujairah oil export hub on Monday morning after the second drone strike on the facility in two days.

Emirate of Fujairah authorities said in a post on X that no one had been hurt in the attack on the Fujairah Industrial Petroleum Zone and that efforts were ongoing to bring the fire under control. They appealed to people to refrain from spreading misinformation.

“Civil defense teams in the Emirate immediately responded to the incident and are continuing their efforts to control it. The competent authorities call on the public not to circulate rumours and to obtain information only from official sources,” wrote the Fujairah Media Office.

The facility is strategically important because it is the only oil export terminal on the UAE’s eastern coast, located on the Gulf of Oman, the “good” end of the Strait of Hormuz.

Critically, it means oil tankers servicing the port do not need to run the gauntlet of the 21-mile-wide sea lane that Iran has effectively closed.

An approximately 250-mile-long cross-country oil pipeline from Habshan, a key onshore field 80 miles southwest of Abu Dhabi, feeds as much as 1.8 million barrels per day of crude into Fujairah.

However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened ports, docks, military facilities and other “legitimate” U.S. targets in the UAE while the state media uged workers and residents in and around Fujairah, Jebel Ali and Khalifa ports to evacuate due to the presence of U.S. military forces.

Monday’s incident, following on from a separate strike and fire on Saturday, highlighted how exposed Fujairah — one of the world’s key crude oil and fuel storage hubs — was to Iranian threats.

The UAE has been repeatedly targeted by Iranian drones and missiles since the United States launched its airborne offensive against Iran on Feb. 28.

A drone attack earlier Monday that forced the temporary grounding of all flights at Dubai International Airport after a fire erupted in a fuel tank close by and an announcement by Israel that it was nowhere near done with hitting Iran indicated the war was likely headed into a third week.

Israel also announced plans for an expansion of its ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah operatives and strongholds after the Iranian proxy group attacked Israel with rockets and missiles on March 2, two days into the war.

An Israeli bombing campaign and targeted actions by ground forces has already forced hundreds of thousands of civilians in the country to flee their homes and killed more than 850, more than 170 of them women and children, according to the Lebanon Health Ministry.

European Union foreign ministers were set to meet on Monday in Brussels to discuss the situation in the region as oil prices continued their upward trajectory with the benchmark Brent crude futures briefly hitting $106 per barrel during trade on Monday.

Shipping of oil, gas and all cargo through the Strait of Hormuz remains stalled despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump at the weekend for countries that get their oil from Gulf producers to step up and help restart movement of ships in and out of the Persian Gulf.

March 15 (UPI) — Israel said it launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran on Sunday as Iran carried out its own attacks on U.S. military sites and against U.S. allies in the Gulf region at large.

The Israeli military said its airstrike hit the Hamedan area of western Iran, hitting multiple military headquarters, The Times of Israel reported. The Israeli military said it plans to expand its attacks on western and central Iran “with the aim of broadly and systematically damaging the regime’s command and control capabilities.”

Israeli officials, meanwhile, said at least five people in the country were injured Sunday by Iranian missiles. Iran’s state-run Mehr news agency reported that the Iranian military has pledged to “pursue and kill” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “with force.”

The United Arab Emirates said it has seen a drop in Iranian attacks within its borders. The defense ministry said it intercepted four ballistic missiles and six drones Sunday.

Since the start of the war, it has faced more than 1,900 attacks by Iran.

Bloomberg reported that a key oil port on the UAE’s east coast — Fujairah — was back in operation Sunday after it was targeted by an Iranian drone Saturday. The port is about 70 nautical miles away from the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed earlier in the month to put pressure on its enemies’ abilities to transport oil. About one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait.

Fujairah is situated at one end of a pipeline that allows the UAE to bypass use of the Strait of Hormuz entirely. The site exported an average of more than 1.7 million barrels of crude and refined fuels per day in 2025, about 1.7% of the world’s demand, The Guardian reported.

Officials said they intercepted a drone attack near the site, causing a fire there briefly.

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said his country was examining ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and keep oil flowing. In an appearance on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Miliband said Britain was in talks with allies.

“There’s different ways in which we can make maritime shipping possible. We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because it’s so important that we get the strait reopened.”

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, accused the US and Israel of orchestrating a ‘diabolical plot’, claiming they copied Iran’s Shahed-136 drone design and repurposed it as a modified ‘Lucas’ drone to falsely blame Tehran for drone attacks across the region.

March 14 (UPI) — Russian attacks on Kyiv overnight left at least four people dead and 15 injured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Saturday.

The missile and drone attacks hit four districts in the capital, bringing damage to schools, residential buildings and critical infrastructure, regional officials said, as reported by EuroNews. Zelensky said the attacks caused damage in Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv.

“The main target for the Russians was the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region, but unfortunately, there were also direct hits on and damage to ordinary residential buildings, schools and civilian businesses,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

Zelensky said Russia used 430 drones and about 68 missiles to carry out the attacks, 58 of which were intercepted by Ukraine’s air defense system.

The president said the number of weapons used in the attack is a reminder to Ukraine’s partners that air defenses and missiles are a “daily necessity.”

“Every agreement on missile supplies cannot wait — everything must be implemented as quickly as possible,” Zelensky said. “Our agreements to increase the production of air defense missiles are a critical direction, and this direction requires one hundred percent attention.”

NBC News reported that Ukraine is waiting for the Trump administration to approve a major drone production deal.

He said Russia will attempt to take advantage of the new war in Iran and will benefit a surge in oil prices and from the United States easing sanctions on Russian oil to balance supply drops through the Hormuz Strait.

Russian officials said, meanwhile, that Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region.

An Australian E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control plane is headed for the Persian Gulf. This comes as Gulf Arab states continue to be subjected to Iran’s attacks in retaliation for ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes. The E-7A is arguably the best airborne look-down sensor platform in the world at present, and will provide a particularly important boost in capability for spotting low-flying Iranian kamikaze drones and cruise missiles.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the impending deployment of the E-7A to the Middle East at a press conference yesterday. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) currently operates a fleet of six Wedgetails.

“Twelve countries across the region, from Cyprus through to the Gulf are continuing to be targeted. The United Arab Emirates alone has been forced to shoot down over 1,500 rockets and drones,” Albanese said. “This growing wave of dangerous and destabilising attacks from Iran puts civilian lives at risk, of course including Australian lives, of which there are more than 20,000 people based in the UAE.”

“In responding to requests, following a conversation that I had with the President [of the UAE,] Mohammed bin Zayed [Al Nahyan; also Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi], and other requests, Australia will deploy an E-7A Wedgetail, to the Gulf to help protect and defend Australians and other civilians,” Albanese continued. “The Wedgetail will provide long-range reconnaissance capability, which will help to protect and secure the airspace above the Gulf. The Wedgetail and supporting Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed for an initial four weeks in support of the collective self-defense of Gulf nations.”

The E-7A is based on the Boeing 737-700 Next Generation airliner airframe. Its most prominent feature is the Northrop Grumman Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) sensor installed on top of the fuselage, which offers 360-degree coverage and can scan for aerial and maritime threats. It also has an extensive suite of communications and data-sharing capabilities, backed by modern processing power, allowing for the rapid exchange of information with other friendly assets in the air and in other domains. You can read more about the aircraft here.

Northrop Grumman MESA Radar – Boeing E-7 AEWC

“As the Prime Minister has said at the request of the UAE, we will be deploying an E-7 Wedgetail to the Gulf. This is one of the leading capabilities in the world in terms of airborne long-range reconnaissance and command. And we are one of the leading nations in the use of the E-7,” Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and the country’s Minister for Defense, also said at the press conference yesterday. “There will be in the order of 85 personnel who will go with this airframe and that’s the normal crew. The airframe will be leaving Australia today and the expectation is that it will be in the region in the middle of the week and operational by the end of the week.”

Albanese and Marles also said the Australian government planned to send a tranche of AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to the UAE. In addition to ground-based air defense, Emirati fighters have been working to intercept incoming Iranian threats.

As noted, the biggest boost in capability the RAAF’s E-7A will bring to the Gulf is its look-down sensor capability. From the aircraft’s high perch, the MESA sensor has an excellent field of view to spot low and slow-flying targets, even if they are relatively small. Wedgetail would also be able to see threats as far out into the Persian Gulf, or even possibly beyond.

So much garbage being passed around here in long jargon filled threads that sound like AI about E-7 Wedgetail and the potential RAAF deployment to the Middle East. Here is all you need to know:

it’s arguably the best low flying drone and CM detection sensor on earth.

That’s… pic.twitter.com/TRuBrmQzSC

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) March 10, 2026

Having another eye in the sky to provide additional alerts about incoming threats and more overall situational awareness will be a boon for defenders in the air and on the ground, in general. The E-7A can also be refueled in flight, meaning it can stay on station longer.

The UAE, which is the clear focus of the Australian deployment, does have a fleet of 5 Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft, but the extent to which they are operating now is unknown. While a modern and capable design, GlobalEye does not provide the same level of coverage and capability as the E-7A, and is also based on the smaller Bombardier Global 6000 business jet, which cannot refuel in flight.

GlobalEye on operational mission

There is more airborne warning and control coverage elsewhere in the Gulf, including six U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft forward-deployed to Saudi Arabia just ahead of the current conflict with Iran. Saudi Arabia has its own E-3s and GlobalEye jets. How effective the aging Cold War-era E-3, in particular, is at this point at spotting and tracking low-flying kamikaze drones is unclear. In general, the E-7’s active electronically-scanned array MESA sensor offers clear advantages over the Sentry’s older radar, especially when it comes to smaller, slower, and lower-flying targets.

For years now, the U.S. E-3 fleet, overall, has struggled with readiness issues, which you can read more about here. As an aside, the strain on the E-3 fleet, now magnified by the current conflict, together with Australia’s deployment of an E-7 to the region, makes the Pentagon’s attempt last year to cancel the U.S. Air Force’s Wedgetail program seem even more bizarrely short-sighted.

In speaking yesterday, Australia’s Marles drew a comparison between sending the E-7A to the Middle East now and the past deployment of a Wedgetail to Poland to provide coverage along that country’s border with Ukraine. However, that mission was ostensibly focused on watching for threats to cross-border transfers of aid to the government in Kyiv.

The need for E-7A in the Gulf now is substantially more pressing.

Since the current conflict began, the UAE has been providing particularly granular data about incoming Iranian missile and drone attacks, as well as interception rates, offering a good sense of the current threat ecosystem in the Gulf. As of the last official tally from the UAE’s Ministry of Defense, the country’s forces have intercepted 1,385 kamikaze drones, 241 ballistic missiles, and eight cruise missiles since February 28.

Still, UAE authorities say that 90 kamikaze drones and 19 ballistic missiles have been able to reach the ground, causing casualties, as well as damage to military facilities and civilian infrastructure. All of this is broadly reflective of the experience of other Gulf Arab states that have been subjected to attacks from Iran over the past 11 days.

Overall, Iranian retaliatory attacks have notably slowed in recent days across the region, but they have not stopped. Based on its own data, the UAE saw a notably high number of Iranian drones get past its defenses yesterday. This comes amid persistent media reports of concerns among several Gulf Arab states, as well as the U.S. military, about the dwindling stockpile of anti-air interceptors and what has turned into a war of attrition with Iran. Publicly, American and regional authorities have pushed back on this reporting. At the same time, Australia’s plan to rush AIM-120s to the UAE is certainly evidence of demand for additional munitions.

Reasonable to ask what the raw numbers for ballistic missile and drone attempts vs. hits are, which are plotted in these figures. Again, all figures are from UAE MOD. pic.twitter.com/dhj86h6DbD

— Christopher Clary (@clary_co) March 10, 2026

There is also a question of where the Australian E-7A will be based and what threats there might be as a result to the aircraft, aircrew, and the rest of the 85-person contingent. Albanese and Marles do not appear to have explicitly said where the jet will be flying from to provide coverage over the UAE and other parts of the Gulf region.

With Iran showing no intention of halting its drone and missile attacks across the Gulf, Australia’s E-7A Wedgetail, wherever it might be stationed, looks set to bring immensely valuable added look-down surveillance coverage to the region.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The makers of the Ukrainian Sting interceptor drone told The War Zone that despite growing interest in the Middle East for their product, they are not yet allowed to sell them outside the country. Other Ukrainian drone manufacturers, like SkyFall, are also reportedly interested in providing interceptors to the region.

In Ukraine, the small drones have proven to be a far cheaper alternative to munitions like Patriot interceptors and even far less advanced missiles for downing Shahed drones which have caused widespread destruction across Ukraine. Since the launch of Operation Epic Fury, that country has been firing Shaheds across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility (AOR). That includes a March 1 strike on Kuwait that killed six U.S. Army soldiers.

“Our priority is Ukraine’s defense,” Wild Hornets spokesman Alex Roslin told us on Thursday. “Exports of drones are not permitted at this time.”

Відео 100 збиттів шахедів перехоплювачем #STING #wildhornets #дикішершні #fpv

However, “the Ukrainian government is engaged in bilateral discussions with partner countries about supplying drones,” he added. 

Should the law change, Wild Hornets has the capacity to provide drones to foreign nations, Roslin explained.

“As part of those discussions, the Wild Hornets are ready to fulfill whatever need may fall on us to help Ukraine’s strategic partners if called on to do so.”

There seems to be a willingness to make key changes to the law to make it happen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukrainian military experts were in the Middle East to share their experience after four years of bombardment by Russian Shaheds and that 11 nations are interested in obtaining these interceptors and other counter-drone systems.

It is no surprise that there would be wide interest in counter-drone drones. With a price tag of roughly between $1,000 and $2,500 a piece, they are a small fraction of the cost of the multi-million dollar Patriot interceptors or even less expensive types, still costing a million dollars or more, being used by the U.S. and allies.

Beyond cost, the interceptor drones, 3-D printed weapons that look like 1950’s-era toy rockets, are far easier and quicker to produce than surface-to-air missiles.

Small enough to fit inside a backpack, they can reach speeds of up to 173 miles an hour, according to Wild Hornets. Some of Ukraine’s interceptors “combine thermal imaging with radar tracking and AI-assisted guidance, with a human operator taking manual control for the final seconds of the intercept,” Military Times noted. Sting interceptors are manually operated by pilots, Roslin stated.

In a post on X, Wild Hornets denied it was in direct negotiations with Saudi Arabia to sell the Sting drones, a claim made Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.

“Recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, suggested that Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is in negotiations with Wild Hornets regarding the purchase of interceptor drones to protect oil facilities from Iranian UAV attacks. This information does not reflect the current position or activities of our company. “

Wild Hornets “regularly receives inquiries from representatives of countries across the Middle East and the European Union regarding potential exports of the STING interceptor system, which has proven highly effective against Shahed-type drones in real combat conditions,” the X post continued.

Wild Hornets is reportedly one of at least two Ukrainian companies whose interceptors are garnering interest in the Middle East in the wake of Iranian Shahed attacks.

Earlier this week, another large Ukrainian drone producer called SkyFall said its manufacturing capacity ​had outgrown Ukraine’s ability to purchase its systems and the company was ready to export, according to Reuters.

“We have had interest and inquiries from our (allies) and countries in the Middle East,” a company representative told the outlet.

While these small drone interceptors have proven successful in Ukraine and show real promise for applications elsewhere, their baseline capabilities are quite different from an actual surface to air missile, especially medium and long-range types. They have to be distributed far more broadly in order to be able to effectively respond to incoming drone threats, whereas a SAM can cover a much larger area and respond far quicker to the threat due to their high-speeds.

The lack of response speed also means that early warning is more critical, especially for area defense duties, as opposed to defending a specific facility or small area of a population center. Regardless, their cost differential and ease of deployment can overcome many of these drawbacks, especially when paired with tailored tactics, in order to get the price of interceptors far down and putting more defenses in more areas.

There are other inexpensive alternatives to costly interceptors that have taken center stage in conflicts as of late.

As we have previously noted, air-to-air optimized versions of the 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) have become a principal air-to-air counter-drone weapon for U.S. forces, which began using the rockets in this way on F-16 Vipers back in 2024. That capability was extended to the F-15E Strike Eagle and A-10 Warthog and soon to the U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornet.

The U.S. also has a ground-based system, called Vampire, that also uses these APKWS rockets. This system is deployed in small numbers to the Middle East and in larger numbers to Ukraine.

In addition, the U.S. reportedly sent 10,000 interceptor drones used in Ukraine to the Middle East.

Known as Merops, the system flies drones against drones, The Associated Press explained.

“It is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed,” according to the wire service.

Last week, we asked Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, about Ukrainian interceptors.

“I’m not familiar with the particular offer, but the interceptors in general, we’ve had a number of new capabilities being fielded,” Cooper told us during a press conference held at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa. “Obviously, I’m not going to talk about it from the operational perspective of what those are, but I think you have seen over a period of time us kind of get on the other side of this cost curve on drones in general.”

“If I just walk back a couple of years, remember what you used to always hear, we’re shooting down a $50,000 drone with a $2 million missile,” he added. “These days, we’re spending a lot of time shooting down $100,000 drones with $10,000” weapons.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has dismissed the need for Ukrainian help in combating Iranian drones and War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday downplayed the threat from Iranian drones and missiles. He proclaimed that one of Epic Fury’s main goals is diminishing Iran’s capacity to launch and build these weapons.

“Their missile launchers and drones being destroyed or shot out of the sky,” he told reporters, including from The War Zone. “Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one way attack drones yesterday down 95%.”

Hegseth: Iran has no real air defenses, air force, or navy left. Their missiles, launchers, and drones are being destroyed.

Missile attacks are down about 90%, and one-way attack drones dropped about 95%.

2/ pic.twitter.com/pyai9V2bNC

— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) March 13, 2026

Still, the interest in the Middle East for Ukrainian drone interceptors remains high.

“This phone has been ringing off the hook,” Oleg Rogynskyy, the chief executive of Uforce, a conglomerate of Ukrainian defense technology start-ups, told The New York Times.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

March 13 (UPI) — Several people, including tourists and influencers, have been arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for possessing, sharing or commenting on digital content that shows attacks or damage from attacks by Iran in the country.

There have been 21 people arrested in the emirate, said advocacy organization Detained in Dubai.

“The charges sound extremely vague but serious on paper. In reality, the alleged conduct could be something as simple as sharing or commenting on a video that is already circulating online,” said Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai and Due Process International.

“Under UAE cybercrime laws, the person who originally posts content can be charged, but so can anyone who reshapes, reposts or comments on it. One video can quickly lead to dozens of people facing criminal charges,” Stirling said.

Penalties can include up to two years in prison, fines ranging from about $5,500 to $55,000, and foreign nationals will face deportation.

“Foreigners need to understand that what may seem like normal social media behavior elsewhere can lead to arrest in the UAE,” Stirling said. “In some circumstances people can find themselves treated as national security suspects before the facts are even clarified.”

One 60-year-old British tourist has been charged under cybercrime laws for allegedly filming Iranian missiles over the city.

“We are in contact with the local authorities following the detention of a British man in the UAE,” the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office told CNN.

The UAE’s ambassador to the United Kingdom told British radio station LBC that the “United Arab Emirates is very safe.”

“The guidelines and regulations are there in the UAE to ensure people’s safety,” he said. He added that people filming could be hit by “falling debris.”

Stirling also said that Qatar has already charged more than 200 people under similar laws since the Iran war began.

The UAE defense ministry said on X Friday that 1,800 drones and missiles have been fired at the UAE since the war with Iran began.

Six people from the Emirates, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh have been killed, and 141 people have suffered mild to moderate injuries.

The War Zone has obtained a tranche of documents shedding new light on what police and other government officials actually saw during the New Jersey drone scare that began in late 2024. We were the first to write about an incident that occurred on Nov. 19, 2024, involving drones over the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal facility in northern New Jersey. We have been documenting highly concerning drone incursions over military installations and critical capabilities for years. But this time what came after was very different.

In a very short period of time, there was an avalanche of drone reports from all over the region and a crush of media coverage from around the globe. As we frequently noted, the vast majority of these so-called drones were reported by civilians and turned out to be misidentified manned aircraft and even stars and planets. In fact, we saw no visual evidence of any mass drone incursions or strange objects over New Jersey during this prolonged series of events. Shortly after President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, his administration announced that the Jersey drones were approved by the FAA “for research and various other reasons.”

That isn’t to say that nothing occurred, but drone mania was clearly sweeping amongst the populous, with every aircraft in the sky suddenly becoming a spooky drone. The mainstream media did not help at all here, either. Videos from local and national news reports showing 737s and helicopters, but being passed off as mysterious craft, became the norm, not the exception. There were also government drones deployed during this period that were surely seen by some as possibly hostile. The lack of understanding about drones and their varied capabilities and configurations among local governments and officials also added to the confusion and fear.

However, there were still sightings that can’t be easily explained as planets or low-flying cargo feeder aircraft. The cache of documents we reviewed, which were obtained by the Freedom of Information Act and local Open Public Records Act, contains thousands of pages and are mostly emails, police reports and internal memos that began being created on Nov. 18, 2024, a day before our Picatinny Arsenal story.

The documents show how police departments and government agencies were alarmed as reports of “rogue drones” started to pour in. They also offer first-hand accounts of sightings by law enforcement officers out in the field. These direct observations include reports of drones flying over military installations, swarms interfering with airport operations and helicopter rescue flights and a host of other issues. There are also claims of the drones disabling police communications and jamming air traffic control radars, although these have to be taken as highly speculative, as we don’t have any info on further investigations into potential electronic warfare effects from any unidentified craft.

We have chosen some of the most interesting reports and documents to share, published here for the first time. While they do not represent a ‘smoking gun’ as to what occurred over the Northeastern United States during the winter of 2024, they do offer additional color as to what law enforcement at least thinks they saw and how local governments reacted to these sightings.

Some of them have been lightly edited for clarity.

Nov. 18, 2024

Watchung Police Department (WPD) 6:41 PM

From Sherif Zalton to all WPD members:

Subject: Re: Rogue Drone Flights

All,

There have been reports county wide of rogue drone flights (multiple drones flying in pattern over sensitive sites). Due to the nature of President-elect Trump frequenting our county, if we receive or observe any reports of this type, please notify me. If I’m not available please reach out for Carolyn Solon.

Thanks,

Captain Sherif Zaiton

Nov. 19, 2024

Peapack and Gladstone Police Department 3:49 PM

From: Police Chief Stephen Ferrante to several other police officials.

Subject: Drone Form

All,

I just sent a form with information regarding drones. As I advised last night… there were multiple reports of large drones in our area. The info on the paperwork I emailed has important information regarding operating drones, information we need to gather if we locate these individuals, etc.

Please carry a couple of copies with you.

Stephen C. Ferrante

Chief of Police

—–

Watchung Police Department 4:02:04 PM

From Chief Scott Anderle to all WPD members

Subject: Re: Rogue Drone Flights

Members,

The County, NJSP, and the FBI are all working together on this. If we get reports of drone or other UFO activity, notify County Communications in addition to the Command Staff. These drones are reported to be far bigger than typical hobbyist models and require special licensing from the FAA. If you encounter someone operating, landing, or possessing a drone, especially in the dark, you can detain and ask them to provide licensing information using the attached Drone Operator Sheet. There is also a specific 2C charge that is applicable for operating unlicensed drones. Please be alert, especially over the next few evenings. These events are extremely concerning.

In the event you locate a landed drone, consider contacting NJSP to have it cleared by the Bomb Squad as the size of the recent drones encountered make them potentially military grade.

This information is Law Enforcement Sensitive. Direct all inquiries to the Captain.

Reach out if you have any questions.

Chief Scott Anderle

Watchung Police Department

——

Watchung Police Department. 4:29 PM

From: Sherif Zaiton to Scott Anderle

Subject: Re: Rogue Drone Flights

All,

The latest update we just received suggests these drones were purposely operating around County radio towers. The tower on Johnston Drive is a County radio tower. Please keep this in mind.

Additionally, as the Chief said, we are being told to very much consider that these drones could be carrying an explosive payload and to treat them as such. If one lands or crashes, please keep this in mind.

Any questions please let me know.

Captain Sherif Zaiton

Watchung Police Department

Executive Officer

—–

Raritan Boro Police 5:33 PM Eastern:

D/Sgt Benjamin Griffin observed a fixed wing drone approximately 400ft in the air traveling from South West to North East towards Somverille. At [5:39 PM], I observed a second fixed wing drone traveling in almost the same flight path. I observed a smaller, possibly a quad drone, flying North to South from Raritan towards Hillsborough in the area of River Road. County [Office of Emergency Management] OEM was notified.

Given all the reports, Morris County law enforcement leaders felt compelled to issue a statement.

Nov. 21, 2024

Bedminster Township Police 7:31 AM

From Chief Francesco Bernardo to several township officials.

Subject: Re: Drones

We have federal, state, county, and local agencies all involved investigating these incidents. Tom and I are attending a briefing today for an update. As per the FBI, we are not to issue any press releases. I also don’t want to discuss this in any [Township Council] meetings because it could have national security implications and there would be nothing that I could disclose anyway.

If we ever get any intel that there is a real or active threat to Bedminster we will obviously act accordingly. Rest assured, there are a lot of resources being dedicated to this.

Respectfully,

Chief Francesco Bernardo

Bedminster Twp Police Department

Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. 3:53 PM

From: Sergeant Andrew J. Winter, Counterterrorism Coordinator to county officials

Subject: ALERT Suspicious NJ UAS Activity – PLEASE NOTIFY ALL PATROL UNITS

The FBI and [Joint Terrorism Task Force] JTTF is requesting assistance regarding suspicious unmanned aircraft in New Jersey. Please see the alert and notify all patrol units to document and make notification as outlined below –

Thanks,

 Andrew

Nov. 23, 2024

Branchburg Township Police Department. 11:57 PM

On November 23, 2024, at approximately [11:57 PM] I observed that both my portable radio and the radio in my patrol vehicle were “Out of Range.” At the same time, I was contacted by Ofc. Conforti inquiring about this same issue with his radios. I contacted Somerset County Communications and advised them of what was occurring. They initially advised that they did not notice any radio issues and placed me on a brief hold. 

Then they advised me that all police departments utilizing the Somerset County Communications Center were all experiencing the same issue with all radios in county being “Out of Range.” The radio signal was out for approximately three to five minutes before resuming normally. At this time Sgt. Cronce was on an alarm call with an open door when he lost radio communication while clearing the building. Our police department’s OEM Coordinator, Ofc. Russoniello was notified of this issue as well as the remainder of the Somerset County OEM Coordinators.

After the radio issue was resolved, I spoke with Ofc. Magos who advised me that he was at police headquarters when the radio issues occurred. He noted that when this occurred, observed a drone flying near police headquarters in the sky. He did not obtain an image or video of the drone.

I then notified the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness via email to their Counter-Terrorism Watch of this incident. I also notified Chief Buck, Captain Edgar and Lt. Jepsen of this matter via email.

Nov. 24, 2024

Parsippany Police Department. 6:39 PM

Sgt. Lesiak, Ptl. Sisco and I responded in the areas of the Reservoir Rt 46 W and Greenbank Rd on a report of drone activity flying over the reservoir. Upon arrival at the Rockaway Sewage Plant, I observed more than 13 drones flying through the area in a Northerly direction. Sgt. Lesiak and Ptl. Sisco arrived on scene. Officers were unable to identify the style and size of the drones. Officers observed the drones in the area for approximately 30 minutes. Ptl. Sisco made contact with CT watch and a [suspicious activity report] SAR report was generated. The NJ State Police were requested to monitor the 287 Corridor due to the critical infrastructure areas of the reservoir and water treatment plants. Sgt. Lesiak was later informed that the FBI, US Marshals and [Morris County] MC Sheriff’s Office were currently tracking the suspicious drones.

Nov. 25, 2024

Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

From: Sergeant Andrew J. Winter, Counterterrorism Coordinator to county officials.

Subject: ALERT Suspicious NJ UAS Activity – PLEASE NOTIFY ALL PATROL UNITS

Hi All,

Please accept this an update to my earlier alert –

There have continued to be unexplained drone sightings around high tension wires, power  stations, and military bases in New Jersey. These alerts are being released almost daily from NJ [Regional Operations Intelligence Center] ROIC per [New Jersey Suspicious Activity Reporting] NJSARS notifications. Please remain alert and ask that patrol divisions make immediate notification should a sighting be confirmed in Middlesex County, NJ. Some of these unknown fix wing drones have been quite large. These aircraft have flown over critical infrastructure in the State of New Jersey and there is a concern this could be “out of country” nations. At the current time, there have NOT been any sightings in Middlesex County, NJ to my knowledge, but that may change.

I have received several calls on this from our local jurisdictions. Please heighten awareness and, if possible, attempt to enhance regular patrols around areas of substations and critical infrastructure. The FBI is requesting immediate notification on sightings. Please call me as well to make appropriate notifications to NJ ROIC and for the NJSAR. I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving with your families!

Be safe,

Andrew

Branchburg Police Department 7:26 AM

A quad propeller drone that was hovering within the perimeter of the switching station approximately 150 feet above a pole near Route 202. The estimated altitude of the drone at approximately 300 feet. As I approached the gate at the switching station the drone appeared to turn off its flashing red and green lights and leave the immediate area. Cpl. Martin and Det. Sgt. Decandia then arrived on location to assist with the investigation.

After about a minute the drone along with 2 others were visible on the back side of the property and leaving the area to the North. 

—–

Branchburg Police Department 6:34 PM

Officer Juan Polanco

On November 26, 2024, at approximately [6:34 PM] [New Jersey State Police] NJSP NorthStar [emergency medical helicopter] was requested to land at Raritan Valley Community College (118 Lamington Road) to medevac an injured male from a motor vehicle crash. At approximately [6:39 PM] as North Branch Fire Department was arriving at the landing zone, 3 drones were observed just east of the landing zone. North Branch Fire relayed this information to Somerset County Communications to advise NorthStar of the drone activity. 

As NorthStar was approaching the landing zone at approximately [6:43 PM], multiple more drones were spotted in the area. This information was relayed to NorthStar via radio. Due to the numerous drones in the immediate area, NorthStar was unable to land. A new landing zone was established at Somerset Airport in Bedminster. As NorthStar was flying towards the Somerset Airport, 3-4 drones appeared to follow NorthStar. 

—–

Fair Hills Police Department 10:22 PM 

On the above date and time, while on routine patrol, I observed numerous low-flying UASs maneuver along the US Hwy 202 corridor traveling N/B. Between the span of [10:20 PM and 10:40 PM] I observed approximately 10 UASs follow the general direction of US Hwy 202 N/B towards Bernardsville. I estimated the flight altitudes to range from approximately 200 to 400 feet from the ground. The UASs were of atypical size (significantly larger than standard civilian-model drones), triangular in shape, had strobing white/red LEDs, and solid red/green lights affixed to the wing tips. I advised SCC, who notified OEM director Joe Schardien. I also notified Cpl. Kamieniecki via text message.

Mercer County Sheriff’s Office 12:30 AM

Officer Mattia

On Wednesday November 27, 2024 at approximately 0030 hours, I was parked at 1100 Terminal Circle Drive, Ewing, NJ on the driveway leading to Station 34 when a vehicle approached me occupied by Detective Dilea (NJSP). Det. Dilea asked me if I had seen any drones flying over the airport. Before I could answer he pointed out a drone flying from the direction of I-295 at approximately two hundred feet in the air over the terminal and baggage claim then out of sight towards Capital Health. At this time Ofc. Salvatore #285 notified Sgt. Caruso and we conducted an exterior patrol to try and follow the drone. When we could not locate the drone and returned to the terminal. At that time we were approached by Detective Garzio (TPD) who stated that they have been trying to track multiple drones in the area and that they aren’t normal consumer drones but military style drones with fixed wings and motors. He also stated that the drones “can jam signals.”

—–

Branchburg Police Department: 10:19 PM

Officer Nick Magos

On the above date and time while conducting routine patrol of Route 202, I was conducting a U-turn at Route 202 and Old York (Centerville), when I observed an unidentified drone hovering over the [Public Service Electric & Gas] PSEG Switching Station, 1389 Route 202. The drone appeared to be a quad propeller drone that was hovering within the perimeter of the switching station approximately 150 feet above a pole near Route 202. The estimated altitude of the drone at approximately 300 feet. As I approached the gate at the switching station the drone appeared to turn off its flashing red and green lights and leave the immediate area. Cpl. Martin and Det. Sgt. Decandia then arrived on location to assist with the investigation. After about a minute the drone along with 2 others were visible on the back side of the property and leaving the area to the North.

Dec. 3, 2024

Mercer County Sheriff’s Office 6:50 PM

Sgt. Shane Coderoni

I was informed by Station 34 Captain Corey Platt about drone activity in the Trenton-Mercer Airport airspace. Captain Platt relayed information from Trenton Air Traffic Control (TATC), who reported observing “three to four primary targets in the Delta Airspace at 600 feet and five operating in the southeast.” I immediately dispatched officers on duty contact with TATC Brandon Dominguez…Dominguez reported that in addition to the radar tracking, he visually observed several drones operating in the runway departure zones. The radar data, which could track the speed of the drones, confirmed their presence in the airspace. The fastest speed recorded for the drones was 150 knots (172.6 miles per hour).

As a result of this drone activity, flight operations at Trenton-Mercer Airport were affected. All training flight operations were grounded. Other arriving and departing aircraft were advised to proceed with caution. To address the situation, Dominguez contacted Airport Operations Employee Ed Berry, who issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), which stated:

-TTN 12/002 TTN AIRSPACE UAS W I AN AREA DEFINED AS 4.5NM RADIUS OF TTN SFC-2500FT AGL 2412040017-2412041100-

The NOTAM was valid until [6 AM] Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

I inquired with Dominguez regarding the impact of the drone activity on the inbound Frontier Airlines flight, scheduled to arrive at approximately [9:40 PM]. Dominguez confirmed that, at that time, the flight would not be diverted but advised to proceed with caution due to the ongoing drone activity.

I instructed Dominguez to contact Mercer County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch should any further drone activity impact flight operations. A still photograph was taken of the Trenton Air Traffic Control Radar Unit. TATC Dominguez stated that the blue dots without a designation, were the “primary targets” (drones). I observed several drones flying in and out of radar during my interview with Dominguez… No further information or drone sightings were reported after this discussion.

At approximately [7:59 PM], I was contacted by NJSP Sgt. Wisniewski, attached to the Regional Operations Intelligence Center. Sgt. Wisniewski stated that he received reports of drone activity affecting flight operations at TTN. I advised him of the ongoing investigation and actions taken.

He advised to contact him if anything further was reported.

At approximately [8:12 PM] , Lt. Corban was contacted and notified of the incident.

A Suspicious Activity Reporting Form was submitted to the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness CT Watch Unit on Tuesday, December 3 , 2024, at [10:40 PM]. 

—–

Chatham Township Police 10:35 PM

Ptl. Brian McGrath

On December 3, 2024, at [10:35 PM], Officer Colette Murphy and I deployed the Chatham Township Police Department Drone from headquarters due to possible unauthorized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) activity in the area. During my initial scan, at approximately 190 feet in height, I did not observe any drone activity in the immediate area. 

To the southwest of headquarters, I observed several UAVs that were flying in a coordinated fashion and appeared to be moving back and forth in a grid pattern. Their formation changed several times during my 30-minute flight before dispersing in a nonunified way. 

Due to an unknown reason, I was unable to capture photographs or video using our drone. 

—–

Raritan Township Police 11:08 PM

Patrol observed a low flying (large) drone, hovering over the Raritan Train Station. The drone remained hovering over the train station for a period of time before proceeding towards the Somerville Circle at a higher altitude.

Dec. 4, 2024

Readington Township Police 9:47 AM

From Lieutenant Steven Rindock to other police officers

Now that we’ve had significant involvement with these suspicious drones, I’m thinking that we should utilize our own drones and conduct counter-surveillance. While it’s true that we don’t know when or if they will return to Readington, haven’t heard of any agencies being proactive in their attempts to investigate these drones. 

I’m thinking that we should have a drone detail with our certified pilots that can either be an overtime detail, or modified work schedule. If we have a pilot (or multiple) on this detail, they can monitor the CAD and respond to areas where they’re receiving reports. Ideally these reports would be in Readington but I would encourage the pilots to pursue all leads no matter the jurisdiction. 

And if one of our drones were to get too close and cause one of the suspect drones to fall out of the sky, we would call our Federal partners and turn over all intel to them. We have insurance for our equipment. 

Let me know your thoughts, thanks. 

Lieutenant Steven Rindock 

Readington Township Police Department

Readington Township Police 10:27 AM

From Detective Sergeant Jason Phares to Lieutenant Steven Rindock and other police officers.

I am not opposed. A few considerations on both sides so that we come to a sound decision: 

We are somewhat unique in that we have a [Certificate of Authorization] COA and operate under Part 91, meaning we can legally fly at night, which is generally prohibited otherwise. I assume this is why others have not attempted to investigate using their own drones. 

Our drones broadcast an identifier. We could be identified as trying to intercept these unknown drones by other investigating agencies. Again, we are legally allowed to operate, but it is something to consider. We should try to deconflict before moving forward. There probably are Federal agencies/military using their capabilities to monitor already, which I would not want to interfere with. We are able to observe and photograph/record from a lengthy distance because of zoom and IR capabilities, so that is an option also. Those recordings could be passed along. 

These operate at night and usually stay in the area. It could be handled as a callout to try to get a recording when we get reports that they are in the area. I don’t think response time would have an impact if last night’s events gave any indication. 

Dec. 5, 2024

Clinton Township 7:34 PM

Officer John J. Tiger

A report of drones near 45 Deer Hill and Petticoat and Briar. I observed what appeared to be at least three separate 4 drone formations. One was moving west over Runkle Road, another was over Exxon Research, also moving west, and one appeared to be over the north end of town. These appeared to be 4 units moving in a pattern. I am familiar with the air traffic in the area and these were not consistent with that traffic. I observed one unit hovering directly over top of the portion of Exxon Research that has their refinery equipment. I drove through the Exxon Research property attempting to get a better view of the drone, but it moved away. I reached out to their security through dispatch to attempt to have them use their cameras to get video of the drones. While driving through the property one went almost directly over top of my patrol vehicle. The unit was high enough that I could not get enough light pushed out to it to get a visual other than the red/green/white lights it was running. This one did not seem to be making a lot of noise and I believed this unit was a fixed wing version. 

From Cokesbury at Glencree Lane I could see numerous drones. I called dispatch to advise them. They told me that FBI agents were in Readington actively looking. I directed them to this location due to the elevation and clear field of view. From that location, with an approximate 200 degree field of view and clear skies I could see dozens of similar drones all around. Some of them were flying in patterns, others were hovering, and some were moving in group formations. Most of these drones appeared to be at least a half mile from my location with many more well beyond that. 

—–

Dec. 6, 2024

Freehold Township Police 8:25 PM

Lt. Kenneth S. Kleinmann

On 12/06/2024 between [6 PM and 6:30 PM] while in the area of State Route 33…I observed an unmanned aircraft suspected to be a drone hovering in the area. The drone in question continued in a western direction following  SR 33 business ultimately flying in the area of a [Jersey Central Power & Light] JCPL substation and US Army National Guard Armory. The drone continued in a western direction until I lost sight of same. At the time of the incident Fightradar24 showed no registered aircraft in the immediate area and drone scanner yielded no results for RemoteID.

It should be noted, the drone was emitting a green and white light and appeared to have the structure of a large quad-copter.

Incident was documented with Homeland Security through their UAS Sightings Information.

—–

Jefferson Township Police 9:58 PM

Incident Report

Dispatch received a call regarding potential drone activity in the Saffins Pond Dam area approximately one hour prior. The caller had responded home to research what they had seen and once they suspected it to be a drone, they notified dispatch. Patrol responded to the area. PO Ryan and I responded and parked our patrol vehicles at the gate and proceeded to the area described by the caller on foot. 

While proceeding to the area on foot, I scanned the area utilizing my thermal device. In the area of the dam, consistent with the caller’s information, I observed a figure that appeared to be a person standing straight up. From my perspective to the left of the figure, appearing to be in the vicinity of the bridge was a flashing white light. A shape could not be made out. We alerted dispatch to the findings.

While scanning the area, we observed what appeared to be a person shining a flashlight down the path leading toward Weldon Road. We alerted other units to check the area, but they could not locate the person. The light was moving in a manner not consistent with headlights from the roadway. Coincidentally, while approaching the area, our portable radios and cellular devices were operational. While within close proximity to where the person and device was suspected, our radios stopped working. We attempted to transmit, but no signal was relayed. After we left the suspected area, our radios became operational again.

After we cleared the area, we returned to our cars and the radios were operational in the area that they were previously not. [Morris County Sheriff’s Office] MCSO was notified and responded out and checked the surrounding area with other patrol units but did not locate anything. While we were in the area, we did not observe any drone or aircraft flying in our proximity.

—–

Dec. 6, 2024

West Caldwell Police 6:31 PM

Officer Kevin Antero

Headquarters received multiple calls regarding drone activity in the area. Officers also observed multiple drones flying in the area in our jurisdiction. I contacted the Essex County Airport tower and reported the above incident. Employees from the Essex County Airport tower advised they also observed four drones flying above the airport and were not able to observe them using their radar and were also not receiving a remote identification from the drones. Employees advised they believe the drones are using a sophisticated radar jamming technology for the tower to not be able to see them on radar. 

Clinton Township Police 7:34 PM

Officer John J. Tiger

I made contact with FBI special agent Sierputowski. He responded out to confirm what I was seeing. While on scene with me he confirmed that the lights I suspected to be drones did match the description of the units that the ongoing reports around the state have involved. I can only estimate the number of drones due to the extremely clear visibility and their constant movements but there were at least 20 drones visible at any given time. I believed there to be more than that amount actually in the air, but they were at times obscured by ground features. 

Dec. 7, 2024

Carteret Township Police 8:20 PM

Lt. Robert Wargocki

On Saturday December 7th, 2024, I was on patrol eastbound of Industrial Highway in Car # 01 when I observed an unidentified object, which appeared to be a drone, flying in the air over Kinder Morgan [Carteret Terminal] which is a critical infrastructure in the Borough of Carteret. I was unable to determine the approximate size or any distinguishing markings but observed that it had red and white lights that were dimming and reactivating as it slowly flew in an eastbound direction towards the Arthur Kill waterway and Staten Island New York. 

I proceeded to drive onto Roosevelt Avenue towards the east end of the Kinder Morgan facility past Lafayette Street and exited my patrol unit in order to photograph the drone using the shift Commandez’s cell phone. I then observed a second unidentified object / drone flying from the south in a northeast direction paralleling the Arthur Kill waterway with the same type of lights (red/white) that kept dimming and reactivating which I photographed as well. I radioed dispatch to advise them of my findings and create a CAD entry. 

I then drove towards the Carteret Waterfront and observed an additional three unidentified flying objects / drones slowly flying from the south and in a northeast direction and photographed them as well. 

I returned to my patrol unit and proceeded back towards Kinder Morgan to further investigate any additional drones in that area and observed two flying in the vicinity of the NJ Turnpike (Exit 12) and the Amazon Warehouse. Photographs of those drones were also taken using the Shift Commanders cell phone and all are attached to this report. 

In all, ten drones were observed between my first observation at [7:56 PM], until the last one at [8:17 PM]. over the NJ Turnpike.

Dec. 8, 2024

East Rutherford Township Police 5:30 AM

Lt. McCann of the Federal Reserve Bank contacted headquarters to report that three (3) drones were observed flying over their building this morning at approximately 5:30AM. According to Lt. McCann, one large drone (approximately the size of a motor vehicle) and two smaller drones were observed by officers approximately 100 feet above the parking lot, located at 100 Orchard Street in East Rutherford. Lt. McCann submitted pictures taken by his officers at the time and were attached to the report. Surveillance video of the drones taken by the Federal Reserve is also available upon subpoena. Incident was documented with the Emergency Response Bureau (North Region) as well as the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Intel Unit. 

—-

Mercer County Sheriff’s Office 7:30 PM

Sgt. Shane Calderoni

I…was notified by Mercer County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch that Captain Nunn of Trenton-Mercer Airport Fire Station 34 had reported multiple drones/UAV operating around the airfield, specifically flying over runway 24.

At approximately [8:32 PM], I contacted Captain Nunn. Captain Nunn stated that he had visually observed approximately a dozen suspected drones passing through and around the airfield, but these drones were not detected on radar. He had notified Trenton Air Traffic Control (TATC) and Airport Operations. At the conclusion of our conversation, I exited the Sheriff’s Office at 10 Grumman Ave. and observed several suspected drones hovering over the Sheriff’s Office and Signature Aviation, at an altitude of approximately 500 to 600 feet.

At approximately [8:38 PM, I arrived at Trenton Air Traffic Control (TATC) on the airfield. Upon entering, I observed a rotary-style drone/UAV, approximately the size of a truck, operating over the Trenton-Mercer Airport Terminal at an altitude of approximately 400 to 500 feet. The drone crossed into the airfield’s airspace and then took off toward Capitol Health Hopewell….

In TATC, I met with Air Traffic Controller Robert Casey, who confirmed multiple suspected drones were operating around the airfield’s airspace. At that time, no Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued to warn arriving and departing aircraft. Given the situation, Casey advised that a NOTAM was warranted. I then contacted Airport Operations Jeff Ritter to inform him of the drone activity and recommend issuing a NOTAM. Ritter agreed, and the following NOTAM was issued:

AIRSPACE UAS WI AN AREA DEFINED AS 4.5M RADIUS OF TIN SFC-2500FT AGL. 09 DEC 02:04 UNTIL 09 DEC

11:00 2024. CREATED: 09 DEC 02:04 2024

Casey clarified that no flights would be grounded or diverted unless a specific operational safety concern arose. Arriving and departing aircraft were advised to use caution due to the ongoing drone/UAV activity.

At approximately [8:44 PM], Casey requested an NJSP Helicopter Unit conduct a sweep around the perimeter of the airfield, specifically near Signature Aviation. By approximately [8:54 PM] after several sweeps of the area, no drone activity was detected in the airfield’s immediate airspace. The NJSP Helicopter Unit then landed safely on the NJSP Ramp.

Casey stated that no “false positives” were detected on radar, but the multiple visual sightings of drones were consistent with the lack of radar signals. I advised Casey to notify Mercer County Sheriff’s Dispatch if any further safety concerns arose.

At approximately [9:19 PM], Mercer County Dispatch informed that Ewing Police had reported spotting a drone flying over Fisher Middle School (1325 Lower Ferry Rd), heading in the direction of the airport.

TATC noted several suspected drones in the distance, but none were detected crossing into the Airport’s airspace. At approximately [11:51 PM], an arriving commercial Frontier Airlines Flight #FFT2742 from Orlando, FL, carrying approximately 182 passengers, landed safely and did not report any drone activity.

—–

Carteret Township Police 7:40 PM

Officer Sarah Abdelnabi

I was dispatched to the area Spruce St. for a report of multiple drones in the area. Upon arrival, I observed several unidentified objects, appeared to be drones flying around the area of Spruce St. and Arthur Ave, and disappeared heading towards the area of possibly Police HQ. 

As I was making my way towards the area of Police HQ, Lt. Hart reported observing possibly the same 4-5 drones flying in the area of Dule Pyle ( 5000 Industrial Ave.) down the waterway heading towards Kinder Morgan.

Dec. 9, 2024

Howell Township Police 10:22 PM

Ptl Alex Peltzman

Aircraft incident: Manasquan Reservoir 

Responded to the above area for the report of drones flying over the reservoir. Upon arrival to the [New Jersey Water Supply Authority] NJWSA gate access off of Southard Ave, two un-identifiable flying objects with blinking lights could be seen in the air flying South from my location directly over the body of water. 

Howell NJ – Manasquan Reservoir (4K)

Dec. 10, 2024

There were so many drone sightings that the New Jersey State Police called a special statewide meeting to discuss the issue.

The New Jersey Regional Intelligence & Operations Center (NJ ROIC) also put out information about the drone sightings.

Dec. 12, 2024

Howell Township Police 8:55 PM

Ptl. Chandler Reed

Aircraft Incident – 102 East Florence Circle 

Responded to the above for a report of drones. Upon canvassing the area, I observed multiple Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) in the airspace. While canvassing, Michael Steiger (W/M/44/Howell) flagged me down and advised that over Naval Weapons Station Earle (NWSE) he saw a drone turn into a “white sparkle” and believes that it crashed into the property of NWSE West of Colts Neck Road. A search of aviation flight records for ADS-B yielded negative results. NJSP notified via their UAS sighting platform. NWSE notified of the possible uncontrolled flight into terrain (UFIT). 

Howell Township Police 9:14 PM

Ptl. Chandler Reed

Aircraft Incident Snow Chief Court

Caller reporting drones or possible christmas lights in the sky…concerned for her dog to go outside. 

Responded to the above for a report of possible “christmas lights in the sky” or drones. Upon canvassing the area, I observed multiple Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) in the airspace. A search of aviation flight records for ADS-B yielded negative results. NJSP notified via their UAS sighting platform. 

—–

Lakewood Township Police 9:41 PM

Officer E. Micallef

On Thursday, 12/12/2024, at [9:41 PM] I was traveling North on Airport Rd approaching Oak St when I observed a large drone flying lower than any other drone I have seen to-date. NOTE: there have been drone sightings across NJ and the Federal Government provided statements to the public that they are not aware of who is operating the drones, but they do not believe they are dangerous to the public.

I followed the drone as long as I could but it was traveling at a high rate of speed. It was very large, dark colored metal framing, and very long beams from the center area that extended to four or more propellers. This drone was the at the lowest altitude of all the drones observed today (a total of approximately 10 from my assigned zone). It also appeared to be similar or exactly the same as the other drones that were in the area.

—–

Galloway Township Police 9:44 PM

Officer Stephen Vernon

On Thursday, December 12, at approximately [9:44 PM], dispatched advised me that the air traffic control tower at the Atlantic City Airport called advising of a drone in the area of the airport. 

They advised that it was above 5500 feet and falling rapidly. They also reported a blue laser near the airport shinning down from up high. The tower requested we check the area. 

I responded to the area of the White Horse Pike and Pomona Rd and began scanning the sky. I immediately observed a very slow-moving flying object heading northeast towards my location. It had a red and green flashing lights and appeared to be around 1000 feet off the ground. It continued towards my location and passed directly over me. As it did, I observed that it was a very large drone comparable to the size of a small car. It continued traveling northeast very slowly. It should be noted that it did not emit sound like an airplane or helicopter. 

Prior to clearing the area, I observed two more drones east of my location also moving northeast. A fourth drone was observed stationary hovering over the airport. 

I responded to the station after clearing the area and contacted the air traffic control tower. I spoke to FAA employee, Mike…I advised him of what I observed, and he advised me that he was reporting it to the DEN. Mike said the DEN was similar to the ROIC but on a federal level. I advised Mike I would report the incident to the ROIC via a SARS notification along with my report. 

The Atlantic County Prosecutors Office, Homeland Security, personal where also notified. 

Dec. 13, 2024

Plainview Township Police 8:08 PM

Cpl. Daniel Kanaley

On the above date and time, dispatch received a phone call from staff at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab [PPPL] regarding possible drone sightings over their restricted area. I spoke with Lt. Chris Pietsch (Site Protection Division) who reported that at approximately[8:02 PM] they observed approximately 11 drones flying in the area of the PPPL property for approximately 20-25 minutes. Specifically, 5 of the drones flew through their federal restricted air space and came as close as 100-200 hundred yards from them. They were described as fixed wing drones with one red, one green and one white light on each drone (all flashing). Lt. Pietsch provided cell phone video of one of the drones from a distance, which was attached to this case. 

Contact was later made with Sgt. Winters of the MCPO CTC via telephone and this report was later emailed to him with the video. 

Dec. 14, 2024

Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

Sergeant Andrew J. Winter

Counterterrorism Coordinator

Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

Intelligence, Counterterrorism, & Bias Unit

Hi All,

Please accept this as an update to the ongoing drones –

I thought the recent patterns over the past two nights were interesting to share with all of you. We had many drone sightings over Middlesex County, NJ in recent days. It appears that those sightings were focused on areas above or around our medical centers. This includes Princeton Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson, and JFK Medical Center – in terms of a pattern. In addition, there were drones sighted over Princeton Plasma Lab in Plainsboro, NJ which is federally restricted airspace. Lastly, through multiple counties to include Middlesex there were several laser (green color) interactions with pilots flying both commercial and cargo flights over New Jersey. These interactions appeared, based on reports, to be higher in elevation, but the green laser is consistent with the green colored light reported on the UAS drones. It is not confirmed if those interactions were in fact drones or independent laser to aircraft interactions.

I just wanted to send out this short update. The reporting has highlighted patterns of activity throughout the county.

Updates will be provided as pertinent and available. Have a great weekend!

Respectfully,

Andrew

By this point, Congressman Tom Kean weighed in. His office sent an email to local officials letting them know he was calling on then-President Joe Biden and other federal and state officials to provide answers about the unidentified lights in the sky.

In closing: there have been no arrests made in the Jersey drone investigation and no drones recovered that we know of. The vast majority of these incidents, as we noted earlier in this story, were misidentifications. However, these first-hand reports from law enforcement officers and government officials are interesting credible witness datapoints and underscore just how little we still know about what actually happened, or didn’t happen, over New Jersey during the Winter of 2024.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

March 13 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth downplayed the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz during a press briefing Friday and claimed 15,000 Iranian targets have been struck.

Hegseth said the U.S. and Israeli air forces are flying over Iran and Tehran Friday, the 13th day of the operation. He claimed that Iran’s air defenses, navy and munitions supply have been defeated.

Iran’s missile volume was down by 90% and its one-way attack drones were down by 95% on Thursday, Hegseth said.

“Today as we speak we fly over the top of Iran and Tehran,” Hegseth said. “Fighters and bombers, all day picking targets as they choose.”

The defense secretary opened Friday’s briefing at the Pentagon, joined again by Gen. Dan Caine, saying that the United States is “decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military in a way the world has never seen before.”

“We said it would not be a fair fight and it has not been,” he said.

Caine lauded the use of the first precision-strike missiles used in combat by the United States, praising the troops that fired them. One of those soldiers was 20 years old and has only been in the U.S. Army for six months.

Caine’s comments on the precision of U.S. strikes come as the military is investigating a deadly strike on an elementary school for girls in Iran that took place on Feb. 28. The preliminary investigation has found that the United States is likely responsible for the attack that killed more than 170 people, most of them children.

“They’ve done all of this with the precision and determination that comes from relentless training and trust in each other and their weapons systems,” Caine said.

Hegseth said the United States is “dealing with” Iran’s attacks on vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, which has dramatically disrupted the oil trade.

“It’s something we’re dealing with, we have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about it,” Hegseth said. “We’re on plan to defeat, destroy and disable all of their meaningful military capabilities on a pace the world has never seen before.”

Caine later said that there is some traffic moving through the strait.

As Iran’s military capabilities weaken, Hegseth said, more importantly, it does not possess the capability to build more weapons.

“Soon and very soon all of Iran’s defense companies will be destroyed,” Hegseth. “For example, as of two days ago, all of Iran’s ballistic missile production capacity, every company that builds every component of those missiles, has been functionally defeated, destroyed.”

As for Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Hegseth said he is “likely disfigured.” Khamenei was wounded during the initial strikes by the United States and Israel on Tehran on Feb. 28, which killed his father, former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

President Donald Trump shared similar speculation about the new supreme leader on Fox News on Friday, saying he believes he is alive but “damaged.”

“I think he probably is,” Trump said. “I think he’s damaged but I think he’s probably alive in some form.”

March 12 (UPI) — Police divers in Australia’s Greater Sunshine Coast region on Thursday recovered the bodies of two missing Chinese backpackers after they were found dead inside their SUV vehicle beneath floodwaters.

The 26-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were found near Kilkivan, 100 miles northwest of Brisbane, after a major search operation by police and the State Emergency Service using helicopters and drones when the pair failed to arrive at their destination.

“Dive squad officers from the state dive unit arrived and retrieved two deceased persons from a car that had been washed off the road at Kilkivan. The formal identification process is still underway but it is believed that the two, as reported, are a 26-year-old male and a 23-year-old female who are international tourists,” said Queensland Police Minister Dan Purdie.

Purdie said their families had been notified and authorities were working with the Chinese Consulate in Brisbane.

Bundaberg Police Chief Inspector Grantley Marcus said the pair were driving from Brisbane to Mundubbera, where they were due to begin jobs picking fruit.

“They didn’t arrive and a friend of theirs from Australia contacted police on Tuesday and reported them as missing.”

Marcus said the families of the deceased were en route to Australia and pledged police would do everything they could to assist them when they arrived.

The couple was named by 7News as Yuchen Guo, 23, from Shandong Province in eastern China, and Qingwei Qiu, 26, from Fujian Province in the southeast of the country.

Extreme rainfall has seen large areas of Queensland hit with severe flooding in recent days, with some river levels still rising. Parts of the state recorded their highest three-day rainfall totals Sunday through Tuesday.

Glen Hartwig, mayor of nearby Gympie, said the deaths of the pair were “an absolute tragedy” and called for more to be done to make tourists aware of the danger from flooding.

“These people have come to Australia to see our beautiful country and tragically they’ve ended up losing their lives. We warn people about biosecurity when they come into the country, but I also think we need to warn them about the dangers of floodwaters,” he said.

“We’re very grateful that they chose to come and see our country and we’re so sorry for their loss and the pain that [family members] are now feeling,” added Hartwig.

March 9 (UPI) — Oslo, Norway, police have released images of a person suspected in the bombing outside the U.S. embassy in the city on Sunday.

Two images from surveillance video were released showing a person wearing all black with their face covered and carrying a backpack.

Police said the explosion, which shattered a glass door, was from an improvised device set at the entrance to the building. It caused minor damage and no injuries. Police said there are no developments on the person’s motive.

Police are also looking at a video posted on Google Maps around the time of the explosion. It showed the former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by the U.S. and Israeli military action on Feb. 28.

Police are asking for anyone with information about the suspect or who noticed anything unusual between midnight and 2 a.m. CET to contact them. They said they have used dogs, drones and helicopters to investigate the scene.

On Sunday, police weren’t sure if the explosion was an attack.

Frode Larsen, head of the joint investigation and intelligence unit, told a press conference that it’s “natural to view this in the context of the current security situation, and that it is a targeted attack against the American embassy. But we have not locked ourselves into just that one hypothesis.”

Police searched the surrounding area, but didn’t find any other explosive devices.

SEOUL, March 9 (UPI) — The United States and South Korea began their annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise on Monday, as speculation swirled that Washington may be shifting some military assets from the Korean Peninsula to the Middle East amid its widening conflict with Iran.

About 18,000 South Korean troops will participate in the exercise, which runs through March 19 and includes command-post simulations and field training drills. U.S. Forces Korea has not disclosed the number of American personnel involved.

The drills come as local media reports have raised questions about whether U.S. military equipment stationed in South Korea could be redeployed to support operations in the Middle East.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday that U.S. C-5 and C-17 transport aircraft landed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, late last month before departing between Wednesday and Saturday.

The aircraft movements followed reports that U.S. Forces Korea relocated some Patriot missile defense systems to Osan from other American bases in the country.

Two Patriot batteries deployed with USFK were temporarily rotated to the Middle East in June last year during strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, before returning to South Korea in October.

The Patriot system detects, tracks and intercepts drones, cruise missiles and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles at low- to mid-range altitudes. It forms a key component of South Korea’s layered missile defense network designed to counter threats from North Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea said last week it could not comment on the relocation or movement of its assets due to operational security.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry also declined to address the reports directly during a briefing Monday.

“There is constant communication between the U.S. military and our side,” ministry spokeswoman Jeong Bit-na told reporters. “We are always communicating closely to ensure that there are no security concerns or gaps.”

She added that the Freedom Shield exercise was proceeding as planned.

“The South Korea-U.S. joint exercise is being implemented normally regardless of the situation in the Middle East, and we are thoroughly implementing it as agreed and planned,” Jeong said.

The drills come as the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung seeks to stabilize relations with Pyongyang, which routinely condemns the allies’ joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion.

The number of field training exercises during this year’s Freedom Shield has been reduced to 22, down from 51 conducted during the previous iteration of the drills under the conservative government of impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

North Korea recently concluded a major congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, where leader Kim Jong Un pledged to expand the country’s nuclear arsenal and improve its delivery systems and operational capabilities.

At the same time, Kim appeared to leave the door open to future negotiations with the United States, saying there was “no reason” the two sides could not improve relations if Washington abandons what he described as its hostile policy.

Kim has previously said he has “fond memories” of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he met three times during Trump’s first term. South Korean officials have pointed to Trump’s planned visit to China later this month as a possible opportunity to revive diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Kim has continued to take a hostile tone toward Seoul, however, recently describing South Korea as “the most hostile entity.”