• The US Navy has long held a missile-tube advantage over China.
• But China's ships now have half as many vertical-launch-system cells as the US, research found.
• VLS capacity is important for naval combat, but it's not everything.

China is closing the missile-tube gap with the US Navy as the latter's long-standing edge in vertical-launching-system cell capacity, one indicator of naval strength, shrinks.

The People's Liberation Army Navy now has over half as many missile tubes, or VLS cells, as US Navy surface combatants have. That represents a significant uptick from a few years ago, a new research report said.

The US Navy still outmatches the Chinese navy in tonnage and firepower, but Beijing is catching up with new warships with combat-capability improvements sailing out of busy shipyards.

Earlier this week, the Department of Defense said in its latest report on China's military capabilities that Beijing would be able to carry out long-range precision strikes from its surface ships in the near term.

The US has 8,400 vertical-launch-system missile cells across its dozens of surface combatants, while the Chinese navy has almost 4,300 on a similar number of warships, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a UK think tank, found in an analysis published Friday.

A warship's VLS cells can carry various missiles, from air-defense interceptors to anti-ship missiles to land-attack weaponry. Ships are often outfitted with a mix of weapons for increased mission versatility. IISS reported that near the end of 2024, the US Navy had 85 surface warships with VLS to China's 84.

Five years ago, China had roughly one-fifth of the US capacity. Johannes Fischbach, the maritime-research analyst at IISS who wrote the report, said that the diminishing capacity gap was due to a dip in US Navy numbers as its warships continued to age and Beijing's outpacing of America in terms of warship construction.

"The gap between the capacity of the US Navy and that of the PLAN is set to continue to close for the foreseeable future," he said.

China boasts the world's largest navy, with more than 370 ships and submarines, including over 140 major surface combatants, the Pentagon said in its annual report on Beijing's military. This battle force is expected to grow to nearly 400 next year and 435 vessels by the end of the decade.

"Much of this growth will be in major surface combatants," the Pentagon said in its report. Much of the US fleet is aging, the cruisers with the largest VLS capacities among the surface vessels are being retired, and the newest warships are delayed, some for years.

Newer Chinese ships, like the capable Renhai-class destroyers with 112 VLS cells, are coming off the line at speed.

A high VLS capacity gives a ship the ability to fire a lot of missiles before having to reload, which can be difficult to carry out at sea and generally requires a port. The US is experiencing a taste of high munitions-expenditure rates during its conflict against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The demands in a fight with China would be significantly higher.

While the number of missile tubes provides insight into a navy's warfighting capabilities, maritime combat is not entirely determined by a navy's VLS capacity. Launch tubes vary in size and function, and munitions vary. Air defenses and other countermeasures would matter as well in a US-China conflict.

Naval combat also extends beyond surface warships and their respective VLS capacities. Militaries can fire anti-ship missiles and other munitions from land or drop them from aircraft. Additionally, submarines can be equipped with missile-launching tubes. The US still maintains a significant advantage underwater over China.

• The US military has confirmed recent drone activity around bases in New Jersey.
• The Pentagon said this week that it sent counter-drone technology to two installations.
• One of these systems has been identified as the Dronebuster, a hand-held electronic warfare tool.

The Pentagon is arming two military installations in New Jersey with counter-drone technology, giving them extra tools to better defend their airspace from any unauthorized drone incursions. One of the systems the Pentagon mentioned by name is the Dronebuster.

The US military confirmed drone sightings at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle this month, as well as multiple sightings at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, with drones at one point forcing the base to close its airspace. A spokesperson for the Joint Staff said last weekend that drone activities over bases are not a new issue but criticized some of the recent incidents as "irresponsible."

Amid recent drone drama, there have been repeated calls to shoot down unidentified aircraft, particularly those near military bases.

The Pentagon said this week that "if a determination is made that unauthorized drones are conducting any malign or malicious activity, commanders are authorized to take appropriate action to mitigate and counter these unmanned systems," but the military is not going to be engaging anything kinetically, a spokesperson added, unless it is a "clear and present danger."

Military bases have some existing capabilities to deal with drone incursions, but the Pentagon acknowledged that sending more technology will help them mitigate potential threats.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that the military is providing "active and passive detection capabilities" and "counter-drone capabilities" to Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ryder identified one of these tools as the Dronebuster, a newer piece of counter-drone tech that "employs non-kinetic means to interrupt drone signals" and affects the aircraft's ability to operate. Picatinny did not confirm any of the specific systems it is obtaining but said that it is "strengthening its counter-UAS capabilities to detect and mitigate drone incursions." BI was unable to reach Naval Weapons Station Earle.

The Dronebuster device is a hand-held electronic warfare system developed by the American company Flex Force. When a user points the lightweight device that first came online in 2016 at a drone, the weapon emits a signal that cuts the connection between the drone and its operator. It's in use with various military services.

The US Army trains service members to counter drones using the Dronebuster in tandem with a Smart Shooter system — a rifle with a special optic that tracks the drone, calculates its trajectory, and tells the user when they have a good chance of hitting it with a bullet. BI observed this training firsthand at the Joint C-sUAS (Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System) University, or JCU, which is a new US Army initiative based at Fort Sill.

Beyond the US military, security personnel and first responders can also use the Dronebuster as a portable jammer system when facing a threat. The radio frequency jammer has evolved over the years, becoming several times more powerful than the earlier models and more rugged for a range of counter-drone operations.

Ryder said that the device is "a methodology that we have that is able to essentially bring drones down non-kinetically should we need to do that."

For the military, maintaining a robust counter-drone capability is becoming essential as drone technology becomes more prolific. The low cost of these systems makes them readily available for hobbyists and malign actors alike. Terrorists and insurgencies have weaponized small drones in Middle East combat, and in the Ukraine war, cheap, off-the-shelf hobby-style drones easily bought for a few hundred dollars are engaging in everything from surveillance to precision strike.

Drone activity over and around US bases has long been an issue for the military and is not limited to the New Jersey and Ohio incidents.

In recent weeks, suspected drones have also been spotted at US bases overseas. Such activity presents a growing problem for the military, as drones can spy on its assets, like aircraft, or hazard its operations. As drone usage continues to proliferate, the Pentagon is seeking out ways to better its approach to countering unmanned systems.

"I think we've all recognized the fact that unmanned systems are here to stay," Ryder said this week. "They're a part of modern warfare, and whether it's here in the homeland or overseas, we want to make sure that we're doing due diligence to protect our forces and protect our equities from a national security standpoint."

It can be a challenge to respond stateside, though.

"When we're here in the homeland, the authorities that the US military has to detect and track these kinds of things is much different than it would be if we were in a combat zone. In other words, the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that we can employ outside the United States are much different, for very good reasons," Ryder said.

The drone activity at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle comes amid a flurry of reported drone sightings across the East Coast over the past few weeks. A range of federal agencies have determined that the sightings are not nefarious, despite speculation to the contrary, and include commercial drones, hobbyist drones, law enforcement drones, manned aircraft, helicopters, and even stars.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday that "we have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast." The FBI, Homeland Security, and Department of Defense have argued the same.

• New satellite images show activity at Russia's Hmeimim Air Base in Syria.
• The images appear to show the movement of military equipment over the past few days.
• Russia's long-held military footprint in Syria has been in question since the Assad regime collapsed.

Newly captured satellite imagery seems to show the Russians moving military equipment out of a strategic airbase in Syria as its long-standing presence in the country remains in limbo.

The images, captured by BlackSky and obtained by Business Insider, show new activity at the Hmeimim Air Base over the past few days and suggest that Russia is scaling down its military footprint in Syria following the shocking collapse of the Assad regime earlier this month.

An intelligence analyst familiar with the satellite imagery identified four Russian Il-76 strategic cargo planes — one of which is being loaded up with equipment — and a Yak-40 regional jet parked on the eastern flight line at Hmeimim on Sunday. Four S-400 surface-to-air missile launchers can be seen on the southern end of the apron.

The analyst also spotted three An-32 transport aircraft parked in the northwest corner of the airbase, a heavy equipment staging area on the western apron, and a disassembled Ka-52 attack helicopter being prepared for transport.

An image captured on Tuesday shows that much of the heavy equipment, including three of the S-400 launchers, is now missing from the base. One of the AN-32s is also gone, while a single AN-124 heavy transport aircraft is present.

The aircraft and equipment spotted in images on Sunday and Tuesday differ slightly from what was seen in satellite imagery last week. The analyst said three Il-76s, three An-32s, one Yak-40, and two S-400 launchers were present at the base on Friday. Two An-124s, one being loaded with cargo, could also be seen there.

The recent developments at Hmeimim appear to highlight a significant uptick in activity at the base compared to a week ago, just two days after rebel forces captured Damascus and ousted Syria's longtime dictator, Bashar Assad.

The fall of the regime brought new uncertainty for Russia's military footprint at Hmeimim and Tartus, a nearby naval facility on the Mediterranean Sea that has been emptied of warships.

Although there is evidence of Russia withdrawing some of its assets from Syria, it remains unclear at this time to what extent it may be pulling back and whether it is permanent or temporary. While some assets may be returning to Russia, others may simply be being relocated to nearby Tartus. Regardless, a drawdown of sorts appears to be underway.

Russia long supported Assad in Syria's devastating civil war, but the rebels now have the upper hand; they control the province where Hmeimim and Tartus are located. The Kremlin is said to be engaging in efforts to ensure the security of its bases with the new Syrian leadership.

The European Union's top diplomat said on Monday that some of the bloc's foreign ministers believe Russia's expulsion from Syria should be a condition for the country's new leadership because Moscow uses its bases there to facilitate activities to the south and in Africa.

"This is definitely of the worry of European security as well," Kaja Kallas, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, told reporters this week. "We will raise this issue with the leadership when we have the meetings on different levels."

The US and Ukraine have both confirmed the movement of Russian forces out of Syria, though the two governments have provided varying assessments on the scale of the withdrawal.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency said Monday that Russia was pulling troops from locations around Syria and consolidating them at Hmeimim and Tartus, "control over which the Kremlin seeks and hopes to maintain."

The HUR said that Moscow was using transport aircraft, including the Il-76 and An-124, to shuttle troops, weapons, and military equipment from Syria to Russia. Kyiv's aircraft identification is consistent with the planes spotted in satellite imagery of Hmeimim, although Business Insider could not independently confirm the reported activity.

The Kremlin relies heavily on Hmeimim and Tartus to project power across the region. Hmeimim is used to move military forces in and out of Africa, while Tartus is Russia's main naval base overseas and provides the country with crucial access to a warm-water port. Losing access to both these bases, which are strategically valuable, would be a major setback for Moscow.

• A US base briefly closed its airspace heading into the weekend due to heavy nearby drone activity.
• It's the latest military installation to report drone sightings nearby.
• The sightings reflect a growing challenge, but responding to the drone issue isn't easy.

A US military base in Ohio briefly closed its airspace heading into the weekend after small drones were spotted in the area, officials confirmed to Business Insider on Monday.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the latest military installation to report drone activity in its vicinity, though, unlike some of the others, it actually interfered with operations. The development, like incidents at civilian airfields, speaks to a growing problem: a proliferation of drones that can spy on military bases or hazard their operations.

Drones, especially small quadcopters, can be easily purchased for a few hundred dollars, and as the war in Ukraine has shown, they are surprisingly versatile. In the hands of an extremist, spy or even a careless enthusiast, these systems pose a threat the Defense Department is scrambling to counter as it increasingly factors them into day-to-day operations, from battle to base security.

Drone sightings near US military bases

Within the past few weeks, there have been multiple confirmed drone sightings near two military installations in New Jersey, as well as reports of drones near US Coast Guard operations and critical infrastructure. The Department of Defense hasn't expressed great concern, saying it doesn't have evidence the drones are a threat, but it has expressed frustration over this activity. One official called the activity "irresponsible."

The development follows an unusual recent trend, with suspected drones being spotted up and down the US East Coast. In recent years, there has also been a growing trend of drone sightings and unidentified aerial phenomena near American bases, both at home and abroad.

At Wright-Patterson, small drone activity was detected around the base on Friday, leading the airfield management team to close the airspace into early Saturday over "aviation safety concerns," an Air Force spokesperson told BI.

Wright-Patterson hosts the Air Force Research Laboratory, the 655th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing, and the 445th Airlift Wing, as well as other units. The base and its two lengthy runways make it a key installation for the US military.

The Air Force spokesperson said that, in general, depending on the facility, there could be many military aircraft taking off and landing. Some of the sites also host sensitive assets, making it a risk for operators to fly small drones in the vicinity. Drones don't have to be malign to be a problem.

"To date, installation leaders have determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities, or assets," Bob Purtiman, the chief of public affairs for Wright-Patterson, told BI.

"We are taking all appropriate measures to safeguard Wright-Patterson and its residents. Our units continue to monitor the airspace and are working with local authorities to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets," he added.

The War Zone, a military news site, first reported on the drone incursions at Wright-Patterson, sharing an air traffic controller recording that reported "heavy" drone activity.

The incident at Wright-Patterson followed recent drone sightings at other military installations in New Jersey: Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle. These came amid a string of reported drone activity along the East Coast over the past month.

A growing problem

A Joint Staff spokesperson told reporters on Saturday the New Jersey sightings are "not a new issue for us. We've had to deal with drone incursions over our bases for quite a time now."

There have been a number of sightings of suspected drones and other unidentified flying objects around important military installations in recent years. Just last week, for instance, drones were reportedly spotted above an American base in Germany. Some have been spotted near US operations in the UK, as well as a base in Virginia, among other stateside locations.

The threat levels vary. Drones are readily available to both malign actors and harmless hobbyists alike. The challenge is that it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish which it is, and drones lower the barrier for entry on aerial surveillance and more.

"This has become a huge problem for both military and civilian airfields and will get worse as drone usage proliferates further," Mark Cancian, a defense expert and retired US Marine Corps colonel, told BI. "It certainly has national security implications as many drones fly over sensitive military facilities like Wright-Patterson."

With drones flying near civilian airports, Cancian, now a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that such activity could be a safety hazard and interfere with the flow of operations. This can be a huge disruption at a major airport with nationwide effects.

Amid the recent East Coast drone drama, runway operations at a New York airport were briefly shut down. And over the weekend, there was also a "hazardous drone operation" incident near a Boston airport.

"For military airfields, the greater concern is espionage and improper disclosure of sensitive information," Cancian said, but "safety and disruption of operations are also important."

The Pentagon recognizes the risks posed by growing drone usage and is seeking out ways to better its approach to counter unmanned systems, as a new counter-drone strategy shows.

"If a determination is made that unauthorized drones are conducting any malign or malicious activity," Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday, "commanders are authorized to take appropriate action to mitigate and counter these unmanned systems."

But in the US, as the Joint Staff spokesperson said, the military is limited in what it can do beyond the walls of its bases. It doesn't enjoy the same freedom of operation in the US that it has at some bases overseas. It can't simply open fire, especially near civilian areas. Ryder indicated something has to be a "clear and present danger" before it comes to that.

Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security also said during Saturday's call that they are similarly limited in their ability to respond to reported drone sightings. They urged Congress to pass legislation that would expand federal agencies' counter-drone authorities.

"The challenge for airspace management is how to deter or defeat such incursions without endangering the surrounding civilian communities or legitimate air traffic. That rules out everything kinetic," Cancian said.

"Electronic interference or, in extremis, some laser system might be the solution. Those are just now being fielded in the military," he added. "It would be years before they are widely available to military and civilian facilities."

• Drone sightings have been reported up and down the eastern US in recent weeks.
• Officials say they're investigating the mysterious aircraft — many of which have actually been crewed aircraft.
• But federal agencies stress that they need more authority to deal with the drone threat.

Federal agencies are arguing they need more authority so they can better deal with drones amid the surge in unexplained drone sightings that have caused confusion throughout the eastern US in recent weeks.

Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials said on Saturday that they are limited right now in how they can respond to the reported drone sightings that have stretched from Maryland to Massachusetts since mid-November.

Much of the mystery has centered on New Jersey, where drones have been reported around military facilities and critical infrastructure sites. The Biden administration has stressed that these drones are not the work of a foreign adversary and do not appear to be a public safety threat. A White House spokesperson said many of the suspected drones are believed to be crewed aircraft that are operating lawfully.

"While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey right now, the reported sightings there do highlight a gap in our current authorities," a DHS official said during a weekend background call with reporters.

The official said that they urged Congress "to pass our important counter-UAS legislation that will extend and expand our existing counter-drone authorities."

That legislation would leave DHS "better equipped to identify and mitigate any potential threats at airports or other critical infrastructure" but also provide state and local authorities with" the tools that they need to respond to such threats," the official added.

An FBI official agreed with that argument and said that any investigation into the drones is "limited in scope." They said there is pending legislation that, if lawmakers passed it, would expand the agency's legal authority regarding counter-drone tools and technologies.

The official said that the legislation would "help us quickly identify or quickly mitigate some of the threats."

A bipartisan bill, the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, sponsored by Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, would expand federal agencies' oversight of drones.

Federal law enforcement officials told House lawmakers at a hearing this week that the current legal authorities they are working with aren't enough to deal with the threat that drones pose.

These restrictions are felt by the military as well, as US Northern Command said earlier that it was aware of reports of unauthorized drone flights near two military installations in New Jersey: the Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.

A Department of Defense official said the military is limited in what it can do off-base and needs to coordinate with local and federal law enforcement to take any action.

"We're also significantly restricted — and rightfully so, in fact, prohibited — from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance here in the homeland," the official said during the call with reporters on Saturday.

"We don't have the same capabilities and the same methods that we would employ in other locations outside of the homeland to determine points of origin and identify very quickly where these operators are located and then respond to that location," the official added. "We just can't do that here in the homeland."

The recent sightings follow similar incidents over the past year, with drones spotted near sensitive military sites in the US and overseas. Recognizing it has a drone issue, the Pentagon recently announced a new counter-drone strategy as it looks to uncover better ways to defeat the threat.

While the ongoing East Coast "mystery drone" saga has confused civilians and officials alike, federal agencies say many of the reported sightings are just crewed aircraft that are being misidentified as drones. However, the FBI has acknowledged that while only a small percentage of the tips it received ended up warranting further investigation, there is definitely some unexplained drone activity above New Jersey.

"We're doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities," the FBI official said. "But I think there has been a slight overreaction."

• Dozens of unidentified aircraft have been spotted over military bases, airports, and cities in the US.
• The Pentagon said Monday that DoD has "no evidence" the drone sightings pose a threat.
• A White House spokesperson said the sightings include a mix of commercial, hobbyist, and law enforcement drones.

US officials said on Monday that the mystery drones flying over US military bases, airports, and cities don't pose a threat.

On Monday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that more than 5,000 drone sightings have been reported in recent weeks, but only about 100 required further investigation.

He said the sightings have included a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as some crewed aircraft and stars mistaken for drones.

The House Intelligence Committee was expected to receive a classified briefing on Tuesday over the issue, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The drones have been seen flying at night over New Jersey and other East Coast states since mid-November, sparking concern and speculation from officials and citizens.

Kirby told reporters that "our assessment at this stage is that the activity is lawful and legal,"

The federal government has sent advanced technology and additional personnel to assist local authorities and state officials investigating the sightings, Kirby said.

He stressed that the government does not believe the drones represent a threat to national security.

"There are more than one million drones lawfully registered with the FAA here in the US and there are thousands of commercial hobbyists and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day," Kirby said.

Kirby spoke to reporters on Monday after the Pentagon indicated, drawing an analogy to vehicles that approach the base, it wouldn't shoot at something unless it presented as a "clear and present danger."

The Department of Homeland Security echoed Kirby's statement in a post to X late on Monday.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the Defense Department has "no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus."

"We'll continue to do everything possible to investigate reports of concerning activity," he told reporters Monday. "But given how many drones are lawfully in our skies every day, we need to be careful to avoid assuming malintent or malicious behavior."

President-elect Donald Trump accused the US government on Monday of withholding information about the drones.

"The government knows what is happening," he said during public remarks at Mar-a-Lago. "And for some reason, they don't want to comment. I think they'd be better off saying what it is. Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense."

"Something strange is going on," Trump said of the recent developments. "For some reason, they don't want to tell the people."

Mayors of 21 towns in New Jersey sent a letter Monday to the state's governor, Phil Murphy, demanding more transparency.

"Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights," the letter says.

Where have residents reported seeing drones and unidentified aircraft?

Residents and officials have reported spotting unidentified aircraft, believed to be drones, flying above New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in recent weeks.

Murphy, the New Jersey governor, said late Monday that he had received a briefing from FBI Newark on their investigation.

"We are ready to assist the federal government in getting to the bottom of this," he added.

Murphy told reporters on Monday that some of the suspected drones spotted over his state are "very sophisticated" and can "go dark" the "minute you get eyes on them." Others have described the flying objects as bigger than normal hobby-style drones and able to avoid detection.

"This is something we're taking deadly seriously and we've gotten good cooperation out of the feds, but we need more," Murphy said.

Drones have been spotted near Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, both military bases in New Jersey, and an airport in New York serving the public and the military.

However, officials have stressed such sightings are not necessarily unusual.

"This is not a new issue for us. We've had to deal with drone incursions over our bases for quite a time now," the spokesperson for the Joint Staff said Saturday. "It's something that we routinely respond to in each and every case when reporting is cited."

There have also been reports of suspected drones following a US Coast Guard vessel, as well as local police statements on the presence of unidentified aircraft near critical infrastructure.

US Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing the protection of the US homeland, said over the weekend it was "aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey."

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio acknowledged that drone activity near the base led officials there to close its airspace for several hours late Friday night and into Saturday.

A recording of a controller from the Wright-Patterson air traffic control tower that was shared by The War Zone, which first reported the incursions, urges an aircraft to "use extreme caution for heavy UAS movement on the base."

What are officials saying about these mystery drones?

Trump said Friday on Truth Social that there are mystery drones being sighted all over the country. "Can this really be happening without our government's knowledge," he wrote. "I don't think so!"

He suggested that they be shot down. Other officials have expressed concern about shooting them down due to the threat to local populations of falling debris. Neither kinetic nor electronic warfare methods are particularly ideal near civilian areas.

New Jersey State Assemblyman Brian Bergen told CNN News Central's Sara Sidner on Monday that "we shouldn't be shooting things down right now."

"Look, I was an attack helicopter pilot in the US Army. I flew overseas. I have seen bullets fly through the sky. It's not a great idea to do over the United States," he said. "Things should not be shot out of the sky. That is a very dangerous thing to do."

The FBI and New Jersey State Police issued a joint statement on Monday warning of "a concern with people possibly firing weapons at what they believe to be a UAS," as well as increased incidences of pilots being dazzled by lasers.

There could be "deadly consequences" of these actions, they said.

Amid the confusion on the drones, there has been a lot of speculation, including from officials.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said on Fox News last Wednesday that the drones came from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States, citing "very high sources."

Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh rejected the congressman's claim in a press conference later that day, saying "there is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there's no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States."

Singh said that the Pentagon has no evidence that the reported drone sightings are the work of a foreign adversary. While Iran does have vessels that can carry drones, they were spotted off its southern coast as recently as Thursday — debunking Van Drew's claims.

He doubled down on Thursday, saying the government isn't telling the truth. The congressman said it could be another ship belonging to another foe. A Department of Homeland Security official said Saturday that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement in sending drones ashore from vessels in the area.

"We're doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities," an FBI official told reporters Saturday. "But I think there has been a slight overreaction."

Local officials, meanwhile, have been calling for additional information.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday called for increased federal oversight of drones and said runways at Stewart International Airport in Orange County were shut down for an hour due to unidentified drone activity. "This has gone too far," she said.

Hochul called on Congress to strengthen the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of drones and provide counter-unmanned aircraft equipment to local law enforcement. On Sunday, she posted to social media that the federal government was sending a "drone detection system" to her state.

Previous unidentified flying objects and drone sightings

There have been a number of sightings of suspected drones and other unusual flying objects over or around military installations in recent years.

In February 2023, for example, the United States shot down three unidentified objects flying over American airspace over the course of three days. The incidents were part of a saga that followed the US takedown of a spy balloon off the coast of North Carolina the government said came from China.

As for drone activity, The Wall Street Journal reported in October that drones had been spotted over a military base in Virginia and the Energy Department's Nevada National Security Site the year prior. Retired US Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, until March of this year the head of Air Combat Command, said that he learned about the sightings in December 2023, when officials at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia reported seeing dozens of drones flying over the base at night. It's unclear who was behind those incidents.

While the federal government says that the latest sightings are not the work of adversaries or a public security threat, multiple recent incidents near bases have raised national security concerns.

For instance, federal authorities on Monday charged a Chinese citizen residing in California, Yinpiao Zhou, with failure to register a non-transportation aircraft and violation of national defense airspace. The Justice Department accused Zhou of using a drone to photograph Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County on November 30.

Police arrested Zhou at the San Francisco International Airport before he boarded a China-bound flight.

And another man, Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national, was sentenced to six months in federal prison in October for photographing US Navy ships with a drone in Virginia. Fengyun, a student at the University of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of aircraft for the unlawful photographing of a designated installation.

The FBI official who spoke to reporters on Saturday said of the most recent sightings: "We are doing everything we can, alongside our partners, to understand what is happening and whether or not there is more nefarious activity that we need to explore."

• F-35 combat operations have often been against terrorist and militant targets.
• Israel used the fighter jet in widespread strikes against Iran in late October.
• The success of that operation underscores the F-35's ability to battle higher-level threats.

F-35 stealth fighters have been flying combat missions in the Middle East for years now, though largely in permissive airspace against lower-level targets. The jet's recent victory against Iran's air defenses, however, highlights its ability to combat higher-level threats.

Britain's top military officer shared last week that when Israel used its fifth-generation F-35s to execute retaliatory strikes against Iran in late October, it wiped out nearly all of Tehran's air defenses and hammered its missile production sites.

The suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses through penetrating strikes — that is the kind of higher-level mission for which the jet was made.

The F-35 has historically been used against weaker targets with either limited or nonexistent air defenses. Israeli F-35s have previously battled Syrian surface-to-air missiles and antiaircraft batteries and engaged in strikes on Iranian targets, but the expensive fighter jet has largely been employed against non-state actors like ISIS, the Taliban, and the Houthis.

Israel's recent operation against Iran, which fielded very capable Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems, emphasizes how the jet is capable of engaging in combat at a higher level.

Mark Gunzinger, a retired US Air Force colonel who flew the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, told Business Insider that without the F-35, it would've probably been "a far more risky mission."

The 'power' of the F-35

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is an advanced single-engine, multi-role strike stealth fighter jet made by American defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Multiple variants of the aircraft are in use by several countries, including Israel.

Michael Bohnert, a licensed engineer at the RAND Corporation, said that the F-35 was designed to replace existing fighter jets like the F-117, F-16, and F/A-18 with increased stealth, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and other capabilities.

"The F-35 is a great plane conceived out of the 1990s Pax Americana," Bohnert told BI.

Israel, which operates a subvariant of the F-35A model designed for air force operations, was the first to fly the fighter jet in combat in 2018. The US military has since used it in missions across the Middle East.

The F-35 fighter faced probably its most daring operation in late October, when Israel struck Iran in response to Tehran's huge missile attack at the start of the month.

"Israel used more than 100 aircraft, carrying fewer than 100 munitions, and with no aircraft getting within 100 miles of the target in the first wave, and that took down nearly the entirety of Iran's air-defense system," said Adm. Tony Radakin, the UK's chief of defense staff.

Radakin, speaking in London at a December 4 lecture hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, said Israel demonstrated "the power" of jet and the "disproportionate advantage of modern ways of fighting" in its strikes against Iran.

His remarks appeared to mark the first confirmation from a Western government that Israel used the fifth-generation aircraft in the strikes. It was reported shortly after the operation that Israel flew its F-35s and fired air-launched ballistic missiles.

Radakin's praise of the F-35 came after Elon Musk criticized the jet and dismissed its stealth capabilities. The aircraft is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, but it is widely considered a key warfighting capability for US allies and partners.

The F-35 is not just a fighter jet; it also acts as a bomber with penetrating ISR capabilities, a battlespace command and control platform, and an electronic warfare aircraft.

"The F-35's capabilities are not a theory — they're a reality," said Gunzinger, the director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, "and now they're proven in combat against Russian-imported S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries that have been touted as the answer to stealth."

Bohnert said the F-35 "did exactly what it was designed to do" against Iran.

In the aftermath of the strikes on Iran, an Israeli security official told BI that the hits "accurately targeted" Iran's radar and air-defense systems, putting the country at a "disadvantage."

While the F-35 demonstrated its combat prowess against Iran, the jet would face a tougher fight in a conflict between Western powers and Russia or China, which field more advanced air-defense systems and have their own fifth-generation aircraft.

And the F-35 isn't without its own challenges. The program faces rising costs and readiness issues. Mission capable rates are declining, even as program costs go up. Bohnert said it will be important to increase the aircraft's maintenance and logistics capacity for any higher-end conflict.

Still, the F-35 is demonstrating its combat potential today, as Radakin and others have said. And the fighter jet's advanced combat capabilities are not lost on Congress, where House lawmakers in their 2025 fiscal year defense spending bill called for more F-35s than what the Pentagon initially requested.

The jet's development came with more than its fair share of difficulties, but, Gunzinger said, the "F-35s today are operational and ready for the fight."

• In new satellite imagery, Russia's military appears to be packing up equipment at a key airbase in Syria.
• The images show transport aircraft ready to load cargo at the Hmeimim Air Base on Friday.
• Russia's military footprint in Syria fell into uncertainty after rebel forces ousted Bashar Assad.

Russia appears to be packing up military equipment at one of its bases in Syria, new satellite images show. They are the latest indication that Moscow is scaling down, if not withdrawing, its footprint from the country following the stunning collapse of the Assad regime.

Images captured Friday by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider show two An-124 heavy transport aircraft at Russia's Hmeimim Air Base. The front of the planes are lifted, indicating that they are ready to load equipment or cargo.

In another image of the Hmeimim base, a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter is seen being taken apart and likely prepared for transport, according to Maxar. The company said elements of an S-400 air-defense unit are also being prepared for departure from the weapon's previous deployment site near the coastal city of Latakia.

Additional imagery collected Friday shows Russia's warships are still missing from its base in Tartus, a port city south of Hmeimim on the Mediterranean Sea. Several frigates, replenishment oilers, and a submarine could be seen at the facility earlier in the month, but they were all gone by Monday.

Some of the vessels have been spotted several miles off the coast. It's unclear whether the warships will return to Tartus; their presence at sea could be for safety reasons rather than a full evacuation.

The US has not confirmed any major Russian military withdrawal from Syria but has pointed out that some forces are, in fact, departing.

"What we're seeing is a consolidation of assets, including some Russian forces leaving Syria," Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters Wednesday. "What they're doing with their facilities and bases, that's for them to speak to."

Analysts, likewise, have called attention to the latest activity.

"A larger number of Russian transport aircraft can now be seen at Khmeimim," Michael Kofman, a Russia expert and senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a social media post.

"The S-400 battery is packing up for transport. While tactical aviation is still there, RF appears to be consolidating at Khmeimim and Tartus," he said. "In short, a withdrawal is under way."

Even if Russia is moving forces out of its bases in Syria, it may only be a partial military withdrawal and not a complete evacuation.

The new satellite imagery comes a day after Ukraine's military intelligence agency, known as the HUR, said Moscow was evacuating its bases in Syria and has been flying multiple military transport aircraft between Hmeimim and Russia every day.

BI was unable to independently verify Kyiv's assessment.

Russia's military presence in Syria became tenuous last weekend as rebel forces captured Damascus and ousted Bashar Assad, the country's longtime dictator. Assad has since fled to Moscow with his family.

Russia supported Assad in Syria's civil war for years, in return securing a foothold in the country, but the rebels now have the upper hand. They control the province where Tartus and Hmeimim are located. The Kremlin is engaging in efforts to ensure the security of its facilities with the new Syrian leadership, but it's unclear if any arrangements are official.

Losing both Tartus and Hmeimim would be a setback for the Kremlin, which relies heavily on the bases to project its power across the region and beyond. Tartus is Russia's main naval base overseas, providing the country with critical access to a warm-water port. Moscow uses Hmeimim to move military forces in and out of Africa. That makes these bases strategically valuable.

War analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, wrote on Thursday that Russia "is very likely hesitant to completely evacuate all military assets from Syria in the event that it can establish a relationship with Syrian opposition forces and the transitional government and continue to ensure the security of its basing and personnel in Syria."

• Mysterious aircraft sightings have been reported around New Jersey lately.
• The incidents have fueled theories, including that Iran may have launched the systems from a ship.
• Iran does have drone-carrying vessels, but satellite images show they're far from the US right now.

Newly captured satellite imagery shows that Iran's drone carriers are off its southern coast, thousands of miles away from the eastern United States.

The images back up the Pentagon's refutation of a New Jersey lawmaker who suggested that one of the Iranian ships was operating nearby and responsible for the rash of reported drone sightings in the congressman's state lately.

An image captured on Thursday by Maxar Technologies, a commercial satellite-imagery operation, and obtained by Business Insider shows three Iranian vessels that were modified to carry drones in the Persian Gulf off the southern coast of Iran.

Iran's drone ships aren't anywhere near the US. There's been significant hysteria surrounding developments in New Jersey, with some misidentifying crewed aircraft as drones. That doesn't, however, mean the US doesn't have a drone problem.

The military has been increasingly concerned about the threat posed by drones, which lower the barrier to entry for surveillance and attack operations, as has been seen in global conflicts and a range of incidents in the US.

The New Jersey sightings

Since mid-November, dozens of suspected drones have been spotted at night flying over New Jersey, including near several military installations, raising concern among civilians and state officials and drawing comparisons to similar incidents in other areas.

US Northern Command said it was "aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey," including near the Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.

A drone swarm was also observed near a US Coast Guard vessel off the Jersey coast, and local police in the state have also detailed incidents around critical infrastructure such as water reservoirs and train stations.

The Pentagon has assessed that the drones don't appear to be the work of a foreign adversary or entity, but there doesn't yet appear to be any explanation for the mysterious incidents.

John Kirby, a White House National Security Council spokesperson, said the US had "no evidence" that the reported drone sightings were a national security or public safety threat. He added that the government hadn't been able to confirm the reported visual sightings and that some suspected drones were crewed aircraft operating lawfully.

Amid the confusion about the drones, which have been described as bigger than hobbyist drones and able to avoid detection, a theory about the reported drones emerged from Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who, citing "very high sources," said these drones were linked to an Iranian mothership.

"Iran launched a mothership, probably about a month ago, that contains these drones," the Republican congressman told Fox News on Wednesday, adding that "it's off the east coast of the United States of America." He said that "they've launched drones."

The Pentagon challenged that theory, saying that "there is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there's no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States."

Iranian drone carriers

Iran has turned several container ships into militarized drone carriers in recent years. Satellite imagery disclosed that the newest of the vessels, the Shahid Bagheri, had left its berth for the first time by the end of November. There was some speculation the ship was off to sea trials.

Open-source intelligence accounts tracked these ships to Iranian coastal waters as recently as Wednesday. The new satellite images BI obtained show the vessels were still there as of Thursday, contradicting Van Drew's claims.

He doubled down on Thursday, saying drones could have been launched from hundreds of miles out at sea. The congressman stressed that the drones could be from another adversarial country such as China.

"Here's the deal," Van Drews said. "They don't know what it is. They don't know what it's about. They haven't taken one down to analyze it. They have no idea where it came from."

"We are not being told the truth," he said.

The congressman has said the drones should be shot down. There are real challenges, though, to employing some sort of kinetic or electronic-warfare countermeasures in civilian areas. The military has been grappling with this issue.

The military's drone problem

The reported New Jersey incidents aren't a new phenomenon. They follow other mysterious drone sightings, some around sensitive military sites in the US and overseas, such as Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and RAF Lakenheath in the UK, which hosts American forces and aircraft.

Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of Northcom and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said in October that there had been hundreds of drones reported flying over US military installations in recent years.

The general, according to reports on the roundtable discussion, said many might be hobbyists, but he also said the drone threat and the need to counter it were "growing faster" than the military could react to from a policy and procedure standpoint.

The Pentagon recently announced a new counter-drone strategy to address the growing threat posed by uncrewed systems operating over American soil and abroad to US installations and troops. The priority is figuring out better ways to defeat the threat.

"The Department is mitigating the potential negative effects of unmanned systems on US forces, assets, and installations — at home and abroad. A critical portion of our efforts, particularly in the near-term, comes from improving our defenses, with an emphasis on detection as well as active and passive defenses. The Department will ensure our forces and priority installations have protection," the Pentagon said in a fact sheet.

While US officials have said there's no clear link between the New Jersey incidents and America's adversaries right now, the developments still highlight concerns over the national security implications of drone incursions.

Just this week, for instance, federal investigators said a Chinese citizen residing in the US was arrested while preparing to board a China-bound flight after being accused of flying a drone and taking photos of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

• The US shot down a ballistic missile for the first time from Guam in a major test this week.
• The event comes as the Pentagon increasingly looks to protect key military infrastructure on Guam.
• Guam would almost certainly be a target in a war with China, which has missiles that can reach the island.

The US military shot down a ballistic missile for the first time from Guam this week, marking a significant step toward strengthening defenses on the Pacific island well within reach of China's long-range weapons.

The US Missile Defense Agency said on Tuesday that during the FEM-02 test, it "successfully conducted a live intercept of a ballistic missile target."

The test involved launching a top interceptor munition, the RIM-161 Standard Missile-3 Block IIA, jointly developed by RTX and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, from the Aegis Guam System, an advanced air-defense battery. The SM-3, which costs nearly $30 million, then struck an air-dropped medium-range ballistic missile target off the coast from Guam's Andersen Air Force Base.

The Aegis Guam System, made by defense contractor Lockheed Martin, consists of an integrated AN/TPY-6 and vertical launch system based on the Mark 41 shipborne missile system. American warships, such as destroyers and cruisers, use these vertical launch systems to fire missiles and defend against incoming threats, as they have been doing for over a year in Middle East conflicts.

Lockheed said in a statement that the test gives the Department of Defense a better understanding of the Aegis Guam System's ability to counter missiles. It said the AGS could help "with pacing the Indo-Pacific threats." The Pentagon routinely characterizes China as its "pacing challenge."

Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, the commander of Joint Task Force-Micronesia, a senior command established earlier this year, hailed the missile test as "a critical milestone in the defense of Guam and the region."

The admiral said that "it confirmed our ability to detect, track, and engage a target missile in flight, increasing our readiness to defend against evolving adversary threats."

The newest test, the MDA said, is a step toward the future Guam Defense System; the agency explained that "the future is focused on defending Guam and protecting forces from any potential regional missile threats." As part of the US Pacific Deterrence Initiative, the US is planning to dramatically bolster Guam's defenses over the coming years.

Defending US forces from Chinese missiles

The intercept test comes as the Pentagon seeks ways to better protect important military infrastructure on Guam from China's expanding arsenal of ballistic missiles. DoD has repeatedly highlighted the Chinese missile threat in its annual China military power reports, yet there are concerns about readiness to confront the threat.

Some US lawmakers warned earlier this year that the US is unprepared for a potential Chinese missile strike on bases in the Indo-Pacific, highlighting the need for additional active and passive defenses.

The military installations on Guam routinely host American bombers and warships on rotational visits, as well as communications and surveillance operations, making the small island and its defense essential to US national security interests in the region. Chinese military planners also know the island's value.

China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force boasts thousands of missiles, including the DF-26, a solid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missile. The DF-26 is nicknamed the "Guam Express" because it can reach US forces on the island, some 2,500 miles from Beijing. It also has an anti-ship role, leading it to it sometimes being described as a "carrier killer." The Chinese military is also developing the DF-27 hypersonic missile expected to also be able to range Guam.

Chinese ballistic missiles have not been tested in combat, but conflict experts say that the US could face a threat unlike anything it's seen before in a conflict with Beijing. This potential scenario has underscored a need for more robust air defenses, and this effort is underway in Guam, which would be a key target.

"Within the context of homeland defense, a top priority for the Department of Defense, Guam is also a strategic location for sustaining and maintaining United States military presence, deterring adversaries, responding to crises, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region," the MDA said in a statement. There's long been a recognition that Guam needs more defenses. This test moves that forward.

• The sudden collapse of the Assad regime has raised questions about Russia's future in Syria.
• Russia has long enjoyed a military footprint at two key bases in the country.
• New satellite images show what Moscow's warships and aircraft are doing now.

Newly captured satellite imagery shows what the Russian military in Syria is doing following the collapse of the Assad regime.

The images taken this week by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider show Russian aircraft are still present at the Khmeimim airbase, but Moscow's warships are no longer stationed at its nearby naval facility in Tartus.

Russia supported Syria's longtime dictator, Bashar Assad, in his brutal civil war. But Moscow's military footprint in the country fell into uncertainty over the weekend after rebel forces captured Damascus and ousted Assad following a rapid offensive that lasted just days. Assad has since fled to Moscow.

The Kremlin relies heavily on its bases in Syria to project its power, and losing them would be a major setback, not something that Russia needs amid its war in Ukraine. Tartus is Russia's main naval base abroad, and it provides the country with crucial access to a warm-water port. Meanwhile, Moscow uses Khmeimim to move military forces in and out of Africa.

A satellite image captured on Monday shows Russian aircraft, helicopters, and military equipment at the Khmeimim airbase near the coastal city of Latakia. At the adjacent civilian Bassel Al-Assad International Airport, lots of activity was spotted.

It is unclear at this time if assets have already left and whether Russia will hold its position at this base.

Imagery captured on Tuesday shows Russia's warships are missing from its naval facility in Tartus, a port city located on the Mediterranean Sea. At least two frigates were spotted several miles off the coast.

Five Russian surface vessels — three frigates and two replenishment oilers — and a submarine were spotted at the Tartus base earlier in the week, but they had left the facility by Monday and were still gone the next day.

It's unclear if and when the warships will return to port; their presence out in the Mediterranean could be for safety reasons amid all the uncertainty on land rather than a full evacuation from Tartus.

The new imagery comes amid questions over Russia's future control of the Tartus and Khmeimim bases, which it has held for years. The country's defense ministry has not publicly signaled any major force posture changes.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency said that Moscow was withdrawing from its bases and evacuating its forces. BI was unable to confirm this independently. The ships are out of port, but the specific reason isn't certain.

The Kremlin said that it is taking steps to ensure the security of its bases through conversations with the new Syrian leadership as details of the transition government become clearer. Russian state media has said rebel forces control the province where its facilities are located.

If Russia is unable to retain access to these bases, it could spell trouble for Moscow in the region.

Conflict analysts with the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, wrote in an assessment on Monday that "the potential loss of Russian bases in Syria will have major implications for Russia's ability to project power in the Mediterranean Sea, threaten NATO's southern flank, and operate in Africa."

• American warplanes pounded Syria with airstrikes as the Assad regime fell on Sunday.
• They hit dozens of targets in support of the anti-ISIS mission, which officials say will continue.
• The US isn't the only military conducting strikes amid the uncertain situation in Syria.

The US military has carried out extensive airstrikes in Syria since the Assad regime collapsed over the weekend, and it's not the only country on the hunt for targets in this uncertain moment.

American, Israeli, and Turkish forces have all been involved in bombing targets across Syria over the past few days in actions said to be in support of their respective national security interests.

For the US, this means continuing to go after the Islamic State, as it has done for years, but with an intensity to keep the group at bay. The Biden administration has stated that this mission will continue despite uncertainty about the future of Syria's leadership.

The US has repeatedly said that it is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS. "We don't want to give ISIS an opportunity to exploit what's going on," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday, adding, "They love nothing more than ungoverned space."

Widespread military action in Syria

As rebel forces reached Damascus on Sunday and Syrian President Bashar Assad fled the country, US Air Force B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets, and A-10 attack aircraft bombed ISIS targets in central Syria. The widespread strikes hit the terrorist group's leaders, operatives, and camps, said US Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations.

A senior administration official, speaking to reporters, described the combat operation as "significant" and said the American warplanes dropped around 140 munitions to hit 75 targets. The US military said the goal of the strikes was to prevent ISIS from reconstituting in central Syria.

Jonathan Lord, a former political-military analyst at the Pentagon, told Business Insider the US military is "rightly worried that ISIS could slip through the cracks in the chaos," so it is hitting as many targets as possible.

Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who oversaw US military operations in the Middle East in the 2010s as the Centcom commander, told BI that it's "good" the US is sending a clear message and taking action to prevent ISIS from exploiting the void in central Syria.

He added that it's important for the US to maintain a small presence in eastern Syria, calling it "a very effective and efficient way to keep tabs on this threat."

The widespread bombing since Sunday has, however, not been limited to just US actions. Israel has carried out over 300 airstrikes across neighboring Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

Israel has targeted the remnants of Assad's former military, including aircraft, ammunition depots, weapons storage facilities, warships, radar systems, and additional assets, the SOHR said. Israeli officials have said these strikes are intended to prevent weaponry from falling into the hands of potential foes.

"Israel is taking no chances with their security and not waiting to find out if the new Syrian government is friendly or hostile," said Lord, who is now the director of the Middle East Security program at the Center for a New American Security think tank.

The Israeli military has also sent its ground forces across the Syrian border beyond a United Nations-monitored buffer zone that separates the two countries. The UN has criticized the move, which Israel said is a measure to protect its citizens amid the uncertainty in Damascus.

Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official, told BI that the actions are a "combined effort to try to minimize as much as possible the risk of growing military challenges following the current situation in Syria."

He said the Israeli approach likely includes diplomatic efforts to complement the airstrikes and buffer zone operation.

Meanwhile, a Turkish drone attacked a military site in an area held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the SOHR said on Tuesday. Ankara, which views the nearby SDF as a terror group, has targeted Kurdish forces for years. The US frequently works closely with the SDF on counter-ISIS operations.

"The Turks have a legitimate counter-terrorism threat that they, too, have a right to deal with," Kirby, the White House spokesperson, said in response to a reporter's question about action against Kurdish groups.

The widespread military actions come on the heels of the shock collapse of the Syrian Army amid a stunning, only dayslong rebel offensive that removed Assad from power. The longtime dictator had relied extensively on military support from Russia, Iran, and Lebanese Hezbollah to keep opposition forces in check.

US officials are blaming the fall of the Assad regime on the reality that these three actors have been weakened and distracted lately by their respective conflicts with Ukraine and Israel. Russia, in particular, used to exercise significant control over Syrian airspace, but the future of Moscow's military footprint in the country is now unclear.

• Ukraine just showed off new modifications to its fleet of naval drones.
• They appear to have been outfitted with machine guns and given the ability to carry small flying drones.
• It marks Ukraine's latest innovation for these systems, which have battered Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Ukraine appears to be operating modified naval drones in the Black Sea, sending its crewless boats into battle against Russian helicopters and patrol boats and combat against strategic gas platforms.

The naval drones used in these recent engagements were said to have been equipped with new weapons and strike capabilities, highlighting Ukraine's innovation in this space.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian Navy shared footage of it using naval drones to carry out an operation against oil platforms held by Moscow off the coast of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. Kyiv said the mission targeted surveillance systems at the facility.

Ukraine typically loads its naval drones with explosives and drives them directly into targets; they detonate on impact. Footage of the oil platform operation showed the drones being used in this capacity, but the drone boats also served as a launching platform for smaller first-person view (FPV) drones.

This strategy depicted in the video essentially saw the naval systems converted into drone-carrying motherships. At one point, the FPV drones can even be seen chasing after multiple individuals on the oil platform. It's unclear when, exactly, this operation took place.

A few days later, on Monday, the Security Service of Ukraine shared footage of its "Sea Baby" naval drones engaging in a firefight with Russian helicopters, aircraft, and patrol boats that tried to intercept them in the Kerch Bay off the coast of Crimea.

The SBU said that its newly modified Sea Baby drones had been equipped with large-caliber machine guns and automatic target acquisition. "The Russian pilots considered themselves hunters and counted on easy hunting, but they became the prey, because the naval drones opened fire in return," it said.

Ukraine said the drones struck a barge that was transporting military equipment during the operation, which took place Thursday night.

Business Insider could not immediately verify the reported details of the footage of the recent naval drone engagements.

The two recent engagements appear to be the first public showcasing of their new capabilities. It is not, however, the first time Ukraine has innovated with its naval drones; Kyiv also equipped them with rocket and missile launchers earlier this year.

Ukraine fields several different variants of its domestically produced naval drones, including the Sea Baby platforms used by the SBU last week. These systems have allowed Kyiv, which lacks a traditional navy, to wage an asymmetrical warfare campaign against Russia and its Black Sea Fleet.

This campaign has been a major area of success for Ukraine, which has sunk, destroyed, or damaged at least 32 medium and large Russian naval vessels since the war started. Kyiv has also driven the Black Sea Fleet away from its long-held headquarters in Crimea and forced it to relocate across the waterway to the port of Novorossiysk in southwestern Russia.

• Russia's warships are no longer at its base in Tartus, Syria — a critical facility for Moscow.
• Satellite imagery shows several warships docked there earlier this month, but they were gone by Monday.
• The development has come after rebel forces ousted Bashar Assad, Syria's longtime dictator.

Russia's warships have been missing from its base in Syria in the days after rebel forces ousted the country's longtime dictator, Bashar Assad, satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider shows.

In imagery captured by Planet Labs PBC earlier this month, warships can be seen docked at the Russian naval facility in Tartus, a port city on the Mediterranean Sea. In a photo taken on Monday, however, the warfighting vessels are all gone.

The vessels remained away from their berths as of Tuesday, according to a new satellite image taken by BlackSky.

The ongoing situation raises significant questions about the future of Russia's military presence in Syria. Moscow supported Assad in his ruthless civil war, which ended in stunning fashion over the weekend after rebel forces toppled his government in a rapid offensive.

It's unclear whether the Russian warships have left for good. A December 1 image shows several warships docked in Tartus, but two days later, they were no longer there. By Friday, some warships — including two surface combatants and a submarine — were back. But three days later, they were gone once again.

A separate image captured on Thursday by BlackSky, which provides space-based real-time intelligence, showed that the original six vessels docked at Tartus at the start of the month returned. This suggests Russia may have gradually moved its assets away from the port as Assad's government crumbled.

An intelligence analyst familiar with the satellite imagery said the five Russian surface vessels — three frigates and two replenishment oilers — and the lone submarine had left the base by Monday.

The Russian vessels were still missing from Tartus as of Tuesday, new imagery shows.

Russia's defense ministry hasn't confirmed any major force posture changes, but Ukraine's military intelligence agency said Monday that Moscow had withdrawn its warships from Tartus and was airlifting weaponry out of the nearby Khmeimim base.

BI was unable to immediately verify reports on these Russian military developments.

Open-source intelligence accounts on social media noted the unusual naval activity, sharing images that suggested the Russian warships were loitering off the coast of Syria.

Tartus is Russia's main naval base overseas, and it provides the country with access to a warm-water port. Moscow meanwhile uses nearby Khmeimim to shuttle military forces in and out of Africa. Losing both of these facilities would be a major blow to the Russian military.

The Kremlin appears to be taking steps to ensure the security of its military facilities, but the details surrounding a new transition government are unclear. Russian state media reports say Syrian rebels now have full control of the province where its bases are.

When asked on Sunday about the fate of the Russian bases in Syria, a senior Biden administration official said they "can't speculate."

"It's not lost on anybody that the Russians have now announced, I think, that they've taken Assad to Moscow," the US official said during a call with reporters. "So, we'll see what the Syrians, who have worked for decades to overthrow the yoke of the Assad regime, think about that when it comes to the Russian facilities."

Rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — an organization that traces its origins to Al Qaeda but has since split off from the terrorist group — launched a surprise offensive in northwest Syria in late November. The rebels quickly captured several key cities before taking control of Damascus Sunday, ending a bloody civil war that lasted more than 13 years.

For years, Assad relied on military support from Russia, as well as Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, to maintain power. The White House is blaming his government's shocking collapse on the fact that these three actors have been "weakened and distracted" by their respective conflicts against Ukraine and Israel.

"Assad was effectively abandoned because his only friends — again, Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia — no longer had the capacity to help," the Biden administration official said.

December 10, 2024: This story was updated with additional satellite imagery and related information.

• The US military struck ISIS targets in Syria on Sunday as rebel groups toppled the government.
• Longtime Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled Damascus for Moscow.
• President Joe Biden said US forces would remain in Syria to fight ISIS.

The US military said it carried out dozens of precision strikes against ISIS targets in central Syria on Sunday.

The widespread airstrikes came after a dayslong blitz by rebel forces that ultimately led to the downfall of Syria's longtime leader, Bashar Assad. Russian state news media reported Sunday that Assad had arrived in Moscow, where he was given asylum.

US Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, said it struck ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps to prevent the terrorist group from rebuilding in central Syria amid the chaos.

Centcom said it used US Air Force B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets, and A-10 attack aircraft to strike over 75 targets, adding that battle damage assessments are underway. A senior administration official, speaking to reporters, described the operation as "significant" and said about 140 munitions were used. It is unclear what missiles or bombs may have been used.

"There should be no doubt — we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria," Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the Centcom commander, said in a statement. "All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way."

Syrian anti-government forces announced early on Sunday morning that they had taken control of Damascus. It was the culmination of 13 years of civil war, which began in 2011 after Assad's forces violently cracked down on peaceful demonstrators.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an organization that traces its origins to Al Qaeda but has since split from the group and portrayed itself as more moderate, launched the surprise offensive in late November. The rebels quickly took control of Aleppo, one of Syria's largest cities, Hama, and the strategic city of Homs before advancing into Damascus.

President Joe Biden, in a press briefing on Sunday, acknowledged that the US conducted airstrikes "targeting ISIS camps and ISIS operatives" inside Syria.

"We're clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to re-establish its capability to create a safe haven," Biden said. "We will not let that happen."

Biden said that the US would support Syria's neighbors Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Israel "should any threat arise from Syria during this transition."

The United States has about 900 troops in Syria carrying out missions against ISIS. Biden said on Sunday that these forces will remain in the country despite Assad's ouster.

The US routinely works with local forces in Syria and neighboring Iraq to carry out operations against ISIS, dozens of which have taken place in recent months.

• The grinding Ukraine war has seen a rise in hit-to-kill drone interceptions of other drones.
• Kyiv and Moscow are increasingly using drones to take out enemy systems above the battlefield.
• This new tactic is pushing Ukraine to develop drones specifically for interceptor roles.

In the contested skies above Ukraine, a new kind of warfare is rapidly emerging as drones are increasingly sent on new attack missions. Their targets aren't armored vehicles or fighting positions — they are other drones.

Combat footage from the war in Ukraine has repeatedly captured these hit-to-kill intercepts in which a cheap drone slams into another unmanned aircraft. This practice is a cost-effective air-defense option that both the Ukrainians and Russians are using and intently pursuing.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister for digital transformation, posted on Telegram in April that his country was on the hunt for interceptor drone solutions to shoot down Russian surveillance assets, the front-line eyes for strike drones and Russian artillery, "without wasting air defense assets."

Nataliia Kushnerska, a senior executive in Ukraine's defense industry, told Business Insider that using uncrewed systems in this way "marks the emergence of an entirely new segment of modern warfare — drone-on-drone combat."

A new tactic in the evolving drone war

Drones have dominated the battlefield throughout much of the Ukraine war, being used for land, sea, and air missions. Cheap first-person view (FPV) drones are frequently used to carry out pinpoint strikes on enemy armor and troop positions, while larger systems collect intelligence.

But as the war has dragged on, drones have increasingly been used in an air-defense role to take down enemy uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) carrying out reconnaissance and attack missions. These aerial engagements can, at times, resemble the fierce dogfights of the World Wars.

An outfit that makes combat FPV drones posted in August that its modified drones had taken out 100 Russian UAVs. The Wild Hornets, as the operation calls itself, shared footage of some of the interceptions.

Kushnerska, the chief operating officer of Brave1, a Ukrainian government platform that facilitates innovation within the country's defense industry, said interceptor drones have become "one of the innovations of this war."

The tactic, she said, makes it more difficult for Russia to operate its drones deep behind the front lines and collect data to facilitate missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian positions, which has been a real challenge for Ukraine as Russia pushes to expand its reconnaissance strike complex. This also awards Kyiv more flexibility to carry out its military operations and maneuvers.

Kushnerska said Ukraine was the first to use drones to intercept Russian reconnaissance UAVs, but Moscow has since adapted to the tactic and found ways to evade the interceptors. Now, efforts are underway to improve the systems so they remain effective.

It is the latest iteration of what a senior Ukrainian official previously described to BI as a cat-and-mouse game between Kyiv and Moscow, where each side is constantly attempting to one-up the other in developing drones and other war-related technology.

Samuel Bendett, an expert on drones and Russian defense issues with the Center for Naval Analyses, told BI Moscow is similarly using FPV drones to take out Ukrainian systems and that Russia has also equipped its drones with defenses against interceptor drones, such as electronic-warfare jamming systems.

Bendett said that the Ukrainians "have gotten very successful in fielding their FPV drones against Russian ISR assets, and the Russians have gotten successful, up to a point, with using their FPV drones to go after Ukrainian heavy quadcopter UAVs."

Interceptor drones are limited in range and altitude and often carry less explosive power than more traditional air defenses like missiles. Drones provide Ukraine and Russia with an alternative way to take down aerial threats, one in which the cost of the intercept is often less than that of the system being targeted.

Kushnerska said an interceptor drone typically costs between $2,000 and $4,000. An air-defense missile, on the other hand, could cost hundreds of thousands — or even millions — of dollars. Using drones reduces dependency on more expensive munitions and frees up Ukraine's air-defense units to focus on the bigger threats like Russian aircraft and more deadly cruise and ballistic missiles.

Pursuit of more interceptor drones

For the Ukrainian soldiers tasked with intercepting Russian drones, it's a dangerous mission.

One drone operator in the Ukrainian military told BI that he operates from trench shelters very close to the front lines. He said the pilots are priority targets for Russia, which will use "every single thing at its disposal" to take them out.

The Ukrainian operator said that drone-on-drone combat is increasing. He said he sometimes uses interceptor drones up to five times a week. But Ukraine needs more of them.

Kyiv has taken steps to procure more of these interceptor drones. Last month, for instance, a Ukrainian drone engineering company announced it had completed testing for a new FPV drone designed to take down Russian reconnaissance UAVs, like the Orlan, and was ready for military use.

But there's still more to be done. Valeriy Romanenko, a former air-defense officer who's now a researcher at Ukraine's State Aviation Museum, told BI that Kyiv's interceptor drones are good for slower reconnaissance UAVs at lower altitudes.

However, he said, Kyiv ultimately needs faster interceptor drones to take down Russia's deadly attack drones, like the notorious Shahed-136. In October alone, Moscow fired around 2,000 of these systems at Ukraine, according to Western intelligence.

The Wild Hornets have been working on a new "Sting" UAV to effectively combat the Shaheds, but it's a work in progress.

This hit-to-kill intercept tactic has implications well beyond Ukraine and could be used in future conflicts, too. Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major general and strategist, said the use of drones for interceptions will likely be a lasting element of military operations.

"This is a trend that's here to stay unless there is some fundamental breakthrough in very low-cost anti-drone systems, and we're not seeing that at this point," he told BI. "I think this is an enduring kind of capability that many militaries should be looking at."

• The Pentagon has released a new strategy to combat the growing threat of drones.
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that drones are threatening US forces and changing warfare.
• The military sketched out some of the ways that it will approach this threat in the future.

The US military is increasingly realizing that drones are a substantial problem it's going to need an answer for.

The Pentagon has developed a new counter-drone strategy to address the growing threat that drones pose to US forces at home and abroad, from mysterious uncrewed systems troublingly hanging around American bases to one-way attack drones killing US military personnel overseas.

"In recent years, adversary unmanned systems have evolved rapidly," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement as the Department of Defense rolled out the strategy Thursday. "These cheap systems are increasingly changing the battlefield, threatening US installations, and wounding or killing our troops."

The new strategy reflects the Pentagon's evolving approach to the increasing drone challenge and offers a plan for the military to defeat the threat, building on some existing initiatives.

What is the drone problem?

Drones have played a prominent role in the Ukraine war and throughout the ongoing Middle East conflicts. One-way attack drones have been fired repeatedly at US forces stationed in the region over the past year; one serious incident in Jordan killed three American troops and wounded dozens more.

In conflicts around the world, drones are being used for intelligence and reconnaissance, improved firing solutions, bombing missions, precision strikes, naval warfare, mine laying and detection, and more by both state-level and non-state actors.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that drones are reshaping military tactics, making it more difficult to maneuver on the battlefield, giving adversaries easier methods of attack, and lowering the barrier for entry on precision strike capabilities. And as technology advances, these uncrewed systems will only increase in lethality over time.

"The relatively low-cost, widely available nature of these systems has, in effect, democratized precision strike," the Pentagon wrote in a fact sheet on the new counter-drone strategy.

It added: "Technological advances in the mid- to long-term will likely render unmanned systems increasingly capable, affordable, autonomous, and networked — able to loiter for longer timespans, to communicate better with other systems, move and act as swarms, and to carry larger payloads. These dynamics risk eroding deterrence and creating new and uncertain escalation dynamics."

What does the US military plan to do about the problem?

The fact sheet, which offers limited insight into the classified counter-drone strategy, sketches out five steps that the US will take to tackle the drone problem in the near, mid, and long term.

The steps will include working to better understand the threat, increasingly focusing on degrading and disrupting "threat networks," improving active and passive defenses, investing in both the quantity and quality of counter-drone systems, and emphasizing drone defense in future force development. The Pentagon said it will work with Congress and the defense industry and collaborate closely with allies and partners to implement the strategy fully.

"Taken together, these approaches will allow the Department to maintain our advances and our ability to fight and win our Nation's wars, if called upon," the fact sheet says.

The new counter-drone strategy builds upon a range of existing initiatives to not only boost US drone capabilities but also strengthen defenses. For instance, in early 2020, the US Army set up the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, which was tasked with developing anti-drone technology and training soldiers to engage uncrewed systems in battle.

Another example is the Replicator 2 initiative, the directive for which was issued by the defense secretary in September. This project, a follow-on to the initial Replicator program, is aimed at protecting key installations and force concentrations from small drone attacks.

Despite these efforts, the Pentagon acknowledges that there's still work to be done considering the direction that drone warfare is headed.

"The rapidly evolving nature of the threats posed by adversary use of unmanned systems means that the Department will need to continually reassess our efforts," the fact sheet said, but "this strategy sets a foundation for action to meet this challenge."

• Ukraine unveiled its new homemade hybrid "drone-missile" weapon on Friday.
• The "Peklo," as it's called, is said to have more than double the reach of US-provided ATACMS.
• It's the latest addition to Kyiv's growing arsenal of domestically produced munitions.

Ukraine revealed a new hybrid "drone-missile" weapon on Friday that Kyiv says has already been used in combat and will now enter mass production.

The newest domestically-produced munition, known as "Peklo" (or "Hell" in Ukrainian), boasts a significantly greater range than the Western-provided cruise and tactical ballistic missiles that Kyiv has in its arsenal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first batch of the weapon has been delivered to the military. It's unclear how many munitions this includes. He also said that the Peklo has been used in combat.

"It is crucial that our defenders receive such modern, Ukrainian-made weaponry," Zelenskyy said, according to a statement carried by his office. "Now, the task is to continue ramping up its production and deployment."

Ukraine says the Peklo has a range of 435 miles, more than double the range of US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS (190 miles), and Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missiles provided by the UK and France (155 miles).

Kyiv only recently received permission from the Biden administration and the UK government to use these powerful missiles to strike across the border into Russia.

Ukrainian government footage of the new weapon showed the Peklo has small wings and two tail fins, suggesting it could be used in a role similar to that of a cruise missile.

Ukraine said the Peklo can reach speeds of up to 435 mph, which isn't too far off from the average speed of a cruise missile. Kyiv did not release additional information about the weapon's performance. The country's Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security said it has already been used five times.

The Peklo is the latest addition to Ukraine's growing arsenal of domestically produced munitions, which includes a variety of long-range drones and cruise missiles. The country has taken strides to scale up its defense-industrial base since Russia invaded in February 2022.

The Friday unveiling, which coincided with Ukraine's Armed Forces Day, comes several months after Kyiv announced the first operational use of a rocket-drone hybrid called "Palianytsia." The munition appears to have a range of several hundred miles and resembles the Peklo.

Ukraine has relied heavily on its homemade drones and missiles to strike key military targets like airfields and ammunition depots deep inside Russia since it was barred until recently from using its advanced Western weaponry like the ATACMS or Storm Shadow for these strikes.

• Iran has spent the past few years turning a container ship into a militarized drone carrier.
• New satellite images show the Shahid Bagheri has left its home port for the first time.
• The vessel's development highlights Tehran's efforts to project power farther out.

A container ship that Iran has spent the past few years turning into a militarized drone carrier has left its home port for the first time, recent satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider shows.

In an image captured on November 12 by BlackSky, which provides space-based real-time intelligence, the new Shahid Bagheri can be seen at an Iranian shipyard located along the Persian Gulf.

But an image captured a little more than two weeks later, on November 28, shows the Bagheri missing from its berth at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex, just west of the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

Open-source intelligence gathered by H I Sutton, an independent defense analyst, suggests that the Bagheri left the port to begin sea trials off Iran's coast. It's unclear if these are still ongoing. When asked to comment on the situation, a US defense official said the military does not provide assessments on adversary capabilities or actions.

Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an expert on Iranian security and defense affairs, told BI that the Bagheri's development underscores Tehran's efforts to project its power overseas — far beyond nearby waters.

Expanding Iran's reach

The Bagheri started as a container ship known as the Perarin, but in 2021, Iran began working on the vessel to transform it into a functional drone carrier for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.

At nearly 790 feet long, the Bagheri somewhat resembles a Soviet aircraft carrier with a distinctive ski-jump ramp, which was added in 2023. The ship's angled flight deck, used for launching and recovering drones, measures just under 600 feet.

It's unclear what type of drones — or how many — might be included in the Bagheri's future carrier air wing. It could consist of a mix of one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles, in addition to reconnaissance and strike platforms that can return to the after their missions are completed.

Nadimi said that the Bagheri will increase Iran's flexibility by allowing it to carry out long-range surveillance and strike missions and recover the drones used. In turn, Tehran can invest more in developing more sophisticated and larger systems that won't just be used for one-way attack operations.

The Bagheri isn't the only container ship that the Iranians have turned into a military vessel. Last year, the IRGCN commissioned the Shahid Mahdavi, a modified expeditionary sea base that was formerly known as the Sarvin. This vessel can carry helicopters, drones, special forces units, and missiles.

Earlier this year, the Mahdavi completed a weekslong deployment in the Indian Ocean. During this voyage, it sailed near a key US base on the island of Diego Garcia in what appeared to be a demonstration of Tehran's reach to the American military.

Nadimi said that the IRGCN's push to convert merchant ships into sea bases and drone carriers reflects its desire to engage in longer-range operations farther from Iran, possibly in an attempt to mirror the US Navy aircraft carriers that regularly deploy to the region.

The capabilities of the Bagheri and Mahdavi don't come close to those of the American carriers, which can launch and recover advanced fighter jets and travel with smaller but powerful warships. However, the Iranian vessels could still have an impact in an asymmetrical naval warfare role, especially if they're armed with missiles, helicopters, and drones.

The Middle East has seen a sharp increase in unconventional naval warfare in recent years, ranging from Iranian harassment of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to the missile attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes carried out by Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Heavily armed drone carriers like the Bagheri could allow Iran to engage in this kind of warfare at greater distances rather than being constrained to its neighborhood or having to rely on proxy forces.

"They should be considered a threat not only to sea lines of communication and freedom of shipping and things like that but also to coastal and inland facilities and infrastructure as well," Nadimi said.

• Trumpworld is apparently reconsidering Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon amid growing scrutiny.
• The Fox News host has faced allegations of misconduct, but he is fighting them.
• There are several prominent contenders the president-elect could still tap as defense secretary.

An Army veteran in the Senate. A former Pentagon official who's a leading China hawk. A former top rival for the GOP presidential nomination.

Those are some of the options President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are reportedly considering for defense secretary as allegations and character concerns cloud his unconventional pick to lead the Pentagon.

Trump is said to have been surprised by allegations that have emerged about his pick, Pete Hegseth. The former Fox News host and Trump confidant has faced accusations of sexual assault, financial mismanagement at the veteran's advocacy group he led, excessive alcohol use, and belittling behavior toward women.

The allegations have complicated the Army veteran's chances at confirmation even in a GOP-controlled Senate.

Hegseth has said the sexual encounter, which happened in 2017, was consensual. He was not charged with a crime in relation to the incident. He has slammed media coverage of the allegations as "fake" and "BS" and has said he will not "back down." In an op-ed published Wednesday, he said the growing scrutiny was a "textbook manufactured media takedown."

In the piece, which was shared by the Trump transition team, Hegseth wrote that he is looking "forward to an honest confirmation hearing, not a press show trial based on anonymous accusations."

Hegseth met with lawmakers at the Capitol this week to discuss plans for the defense department, address the mounting misconduct allegations against him, and shore up congressional support, even by promising not to drink alcohol if they'll confirm him.

GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune said his meeting with the embattled defense secretary-designate went well, adding that Hegseth laid out "a big vision for how to fix the problems" at the department, CNN reported. He didn't say whether he would support Hegseth's nomination, though.

Other Republican senators offered mixed reactions, ranging from continued uncertainty to full-fledged support. But even if the political winds shift in Hegseth's favor, many reports have said that Trump is already considering other potential nominees.

The Wall Street Journal broke the news the president-elect was considering replacing Hegseth with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Other names that various sources within Trump world have floated include former Pentagon official Elbridge Colby and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

"This country's full of talented people," Kori Schake, director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, told Business Insider. "The Secretary's main job is dealing with Congress, since they control most of defense policy. So generally someone who's had legislative experience is a huge advantage."

The names being floated would potentially be politically safer choices with much more experience in government. Their experience and stature could make them more independent of an incoming White House that prizes loyalty, however.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will drop Hegseth, who is showing no intention at the moment to withdraw as the nominee on his own. Hegseth said Thursday he met with Trump and that he "fully supports" him, but ABC News reports the president-elect isn't working the phones to try to save him like he did Matt Gaetz.

Meanwhile, back-up options wait in the wings.

Former political rival Gov. Ron DeSantis

Citing sources familiar with the decision-making, NBC News reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis is "very much in contention" to lead Trump's Department of Defense should Hegseth drop out of the running.

DeSantis was Trump's primary rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, earning insulting nicknames from Trump that included "Ron DeSanctimonious," "Ron DeSanctus," and "Meatball Ron." The president-elect said that he "officially retired" the nicknames after DeSantis dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump ahead of the New Hampshire primary in January.

When he was still on the campaign trail, DeSantis leaned into his military background, which was seen as a key differentiator.

The Florida governor highlighted his US military service as a judge advocate general in the US Navy during the first GOP presidential primary debate, and he emphasized being deployed "alongside" Navy SEALs in Iraq and stationed at the controversial Guantánamo Bay detention facility in campaign speeches and ads.

However, much about DeSantis' active-duty career in the Navy remains a mystery to the public.

The Navy redacted certain details in records of DeSantis' military duties, saying that the "release of such information would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of Ronald D. DeSantis and other identified individuals" in response to a federal public records request.

Among the potential replacements for Hegseth, DeSantis appears to have emerged as a frontrunner. Some Democratic senators have expressed more openness to DeSantis as defense secretary than they have for Trump's current pick.

Congresisonal Army veteran Sen. Joni Ernst

Serving in the Iowa Army National Guard for over two decades, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst is a longtime Trump ally. She has said she was sexually harassed while in uniform.

Ernst, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, was previously under consideration as defense secretary before the president-elect tapped Hegseth. If Trump were to revisit her as a nominee and if she were to be confirmed, she would be the first woman to lead the Pentagon.

Calling herself the "top watchDOGE," the Iowa Republican was named to spearhead the Senate's partnership with the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump's new initiative to cut federal spending and government waste.

Seen as a potential swing vote in Hegseth's confirmation, Ernst met with him at the Capitol on Wednesday, saying that they were "just going to have a really frank and thorough conversation" regarding his vision for the DoD and the emerging misconduct allegations against him.

In a post on X, she wrote: "I appreciate Pete Hegseth's service to our country, something we both share." She didn't go into detail on how she might vote, though.

China hawk Elbridge Colby

Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official, is another potential replacement for Hegseth, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, among others, reported on Thursday.

He has, however, shown his support for Hegseth in posts online, saying that the current pick "knows the costs of war" and is committed to Trump's "vital vision of peace through strength and putting Americans first."

Colby served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the first Trump administration. He also helped shape the department's National Defense Strategy, which was published in early 2018.

Like Trump's pick for secretary of state, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Colby is hawkish on China and has consistently emphasized the need for the US to focus its efforts on countering that threat, particularly China's growing, increasingly modernized military.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Colby praised Trump, saying that the incoming commander-in-chief "hasn't even taken office yet, and he's already putting America on a path toward a much better foreign policy. Foreign countries can see the strength and clarity he projects and they are adapting already."