CBO: Counter-Drone Defense Could Cost $7.4 Billion

In a July 14 piece for Stars and Stripes, Alison Bath underlined the key points from a Congressional Budget Office assessment released July 9 on defending US installations against aerial drones.

What the report says

The CBO study lays out what it would actually take to shield American military installations from small aerial drones. Protecting 100 bases with a layered defense system, combining radar, radio frequency detection, and kinetic interceptors, would run the Pentagon as much as $7.4 billion up front, with another $500 million a year just to keep the systems running. Given that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics tracks 824 military installations total, this is a partial fix at a massive price.

The context

Iranian drone strikes have already killed American troops, including six service members at a Kuwait command center in March, and left many others with traumatic brain injuries. Ukraine’s use of cheap surface drones to cripple a large share of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet shows how quickly this technology has shifted the calculus for state and non-state actors alike.

Up to the challenge? 

The CBO’s findings do point to a healthy industrial base, with 135 vendors responding to a DOD counter-drone demonstration request, suggesting competition should keep costs from spiraling as procurement scales up. Still, the report’s warning that systems may need full replacement every four to five years underscores how fast the threat is evolving, and how expensive it will be to stay ahead of it.

Here’s the original CBO report: “Options to Counter Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.”