US Air Force Tests Layered Drone Defense From AI Detection to Shotguns

US Air Force personnel recently trained on a layered approach to countering drones: artificial intelligence to spot them, electronic warfare to disrupt them, and shotguns as a final line of defense. The exercise reflects the US military’s broader push to combine kinetic and non-kinetic tools against uncrewed aerial systems. The key takeaway: no single system is being treated as enough for the full drone threat set.

During the 31st Air Task Force training, airmen used AI systems to scan the skies and help identify drones while filtering out non-threats such as birds and planes. Small high-speed drones mimicked hostile flight patterns, giving personnel realistic targets to detect and track. That detection layer matters because counter-drone defense starts with knowing what is in the air before deciding how to respond.

The training connected detection, electronic warfare defeat, and physical interception into one defensive sequence. Personnel also trained on weapons and electronic warfare threats, and the exercise concluded with live fire using kinetic weapons such as shotguns against drones. In this approach, shotguns are not the first answer; they are the close-range backup when other measures are not enough or are not available.

The Air Force said it will review lessons learned from the exercise as US services continue working through which counter-UAS capabilities fit their missions. Business Insider notes that recent US military training has followed a similar layered model: detect, track, disrupt, and defeat drones. The article also points to Ukraine, where drones dominate the battlefield and some systems, such as fiber-optic drones, are immune to jamming, leaving troops to rely on other options.

The practical question is how quickly lessons from exercises turn into fielded tools and repeatable tactics. A Pentagon-led counter-drone task force has introduced an online catalog that military, federal government, and law enforcement personnel can use to assess validated systems, including kinetic weapons and jammers, and submit purchase requests. That suggests counter-drone defense is moving from isolated experimentation toward more flexible acquisition and unit-level choice.