Trump’s Special Ops Pick Says Terror Drones Might Soon Reach the US from Africa. How Worried Should We Be? By Caroline Houck - Defense One
On a dusty beach in far western Africa, a group of men hop out of a pickup truck. They quickly assemble a small commercial drone and send it winging northwest across the Atlantic Ocean. A bit more than a day later, it will make landfall over the southeastern U.S. coast — its explosive payload still intact.
Advances in batteries and solar power could make this a reality, warns Owen West, whom President Donald Trump has tapped to oversee the Pentagon’s special operations and low-intensity conflicts.
“In about five years, drones will be able to be launched from Africa which can reach our shores, because they’ll have permanent power by the sun,” West told lawmakers last week during his confirmation hearing.
How likely is this scenario? …