The first hours of the operation included precision munitions launched from air, land, and sea. Additionally, CENTCOM's Task Force Scorpion Strike employed low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat.
The push reflects a broader Pentagon effort to field large numbers of low-cost drones quickly without creating new dependencies that could backfire in a fight. The Blue UAS [Uncrewed Aerial Systems] List provides service branches and federal agencies with a catalog of approved drones they can buy.
Firestorm Labs has designed a small, mobile factory that the company says can fabricate virtually any model of drone or drone part. Each factory consists of two 20-foot shipping containers, outfitted with industrial-grade HP printers. Set-up requires just two to four people, and the company estimates that each factory can currently churn out about 17small-to-mid-sized drones drones per week. The company also has two of its own drone designs.
Venezuela's defence minister says military vessels and drones will be sent to patrol the country's coastline amid simmering tension with the United States after Washington deployed warships to waters off Venezuela to fight drug trafficking. In a video on social media on Tuesday, Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino announced a significant drone deployment as well as naval patrols along the country's Caribbean coast, including larger vessels further north in our territorial waters.