WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) announced Wednesday plans to introduce legislation following reports of unidentified aircraft hovering over a U.S. military base.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, former U.S. Air Force General Mark Kelly reported that an unidentified swarm of drones hovered over Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia for 17 days last December.
“As drone technology continues to evolve, the tactics used against the United States grow more alarming each day,” said Moran.
He called the incident concerning and an insult to national security.
“This violation of our airspace highlights the threat of below-the-threshold activity that hostile actors can pose to our nation,“ said Moran.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits drones from flying over military bases and other Department of Defense facilities but shooting them down is also against the law.
“Military leaders currently lack the authority to engage until there is an imminent threat posed to our men and women in uniform,” said Moran. “I am working on legislation to provide the Department of Defense with the necessary authorities to engage drones or unidentified aircrafts that breech our military airspace before it is too late to respond.”
Government officials have said they are still unsure of where the drones came from and who was operating them.
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