The Virginia Congressional delegation will receive a classified update Thursday on the December 2023 incident when drones flew over Joint Base Langley-Fort Eustis for 17 days, said Sen. Tim Kaine.
“We just need to have a protocol for what to do when these drones are sighted, and especially If they're sighted near military installations, and the Langley event a year ago showed we don't really have a protocol,” Kaine said.
The drones disrupted training at the air base, which is home to the Air Force’s F-22 raptor. There has been confusion over which federal agency should take the lead on such issues: the Federal Aviation Administration, FBI or the Pentagon.
“I'm going to keep pushing the federal agencies to get their acts together … rather than all pointing their fingers at each other,” Kaine said.
The senator added that he has been briefed in the past and the vast majority of drones are operating legally.
“This is getting to be a pretty normal fact of life, and of course, the vast majority are innocuous. They're hobbyists. They're people who want to take aerial photos,” he said.
