CENTCOM: Working to establish the "first multinational drone task force"

Washington, Aug 13 (KUNA) -- U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday that it is establishing the first multinational joint task force dedicated to attack drones. In a statement, CENTCOM said the new task force, named “Falcon Strike,” employs single-use attack drones, including unmanned systems operating in the air, on the sea surface, and underwater, operated and managed by U.S. military support crews and regional partners. The statement added that the announcement of Falcon Strike comes nine months after CENTCOM established the “Scorpion Strike” task force, which is the first U.S. military squadron dedicated to single-use attack drones in the Middle East. It noted that Scorpion Strike achieved significant operational milestones in a short period, including conducting the first launch of an attack drone from a U.S. Navy warship in December last year. The force also employed single-use unmanned aerial systems during “Epic Fury” operations against Iran and in strikes targeting Iranian port facilities in July last year, using unmanned attack boats at sea. For his part, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said in the statement that “Falcon Strike will build on the success of Scorpion Strike, given the tremendous innovation taking place among our allies and regional partners.” Cooper added that “integrating and jointly deploying our new capabilities will help us rapidly realize new potential.” He noted that CENTCOM has begun consultations with regional partners and issued formal invitations for them to officially join Falcon Strike, aiming to expand attack drone capabilities throughout the Middle East and form a unified, multi-domain, multinational deterrent force. (End) A.M.M. / S.A.M.