The command overseeing U.S. special operations forces in the Middle East wants to buy an unspecified number of first-person view (FPV) drones and associated training to help Green Berets clear caves. U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) is seeking these weapons to augment the use of military working dogs (MWDs) because it considers drones safer and more effective. The concern is of increasing relevance as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran have all utilized caves, tunnels and other underground facilities as attack vectors, weapons and personnel hiding facilities and command and control nodes.
“Currently, the absence of dedicated unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for cave clearing operations forces reliance on Military Working Dogs (MWD) or partner forces, significantly increasing risk to both personnel and mission success,” U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) wrote in a request for a single-source FPV drone contract for SOCCENT posted on the SAM.gov U.S. purchasing portal. “Caves present confined, complex spaces with limited visibility and unpredictable terrain, increasing the danger to personnel and potentially hindering MWD effectiveness.”
In its justification for the single-source procurement, SOCOM notes that the fast and highly maneuverable FPV drones would provide real-time visual intelligence from inside caves, reducing the risk of having troops inside them when much of the mission can be accomplished by a drone. In addition, FPV drones with communications relays “enhance coordination between teams inside and outside the cave, facilitating smoother operations and faster response times.”
Operating drones underground, in confined spaces with no line-of-sight, is a challenge the U.S. military has been working to overcome for years. While the request doesn’t specify what kind of FPV drones are required, SOCOM could very well be looking for a number of options, including those guided by a fiber optic cable, given the difficulties of operating in these areas. Both Ukraine and Russia have been increasingly using hard-wired fiber optics for control links because the connection cannot be jammed by electronic warfare equipment but also because the link isn’t degraded when flying low over the ground or amongst obstacles and terrain since there is no line-of-sight connectivity requirements. This allows them to maneuver with full picture and control fidelity inside of buildings and tunnels. You can see examples of this from Ukraine below and in this past story:
There are also small drones that have FPV capability that are tailored to urban environments and can use publicly available cellular data and other wireless networks to provide a connection to its operator. The introduction to AI will also allow even small drones to be able to navigate at least partially on their own, which could help significantly for operating in tunnels and other areas where the connection can be spotty at best. Drones with spherical cages around them and other unique alterations also allow them to fly more freely in tight spaces without clipping their propellers. SWAT and other police units have pioneered the use of drones in such circumstances.
In addition to seeking the hardware, SOCOM also wants SOF operators to be trained how to use them, considering how much work it takes to fly them effectively. You can read about how the Ukrainians, leaders in FPV drone innovations, have trained on them in our story here.
SOCOM redacted the cost of the request but said the “investment will significantly improve the safety and efficiency of cave clearing operations, ultimately contributing to mission success and force protection.” The funding will come from the command’s Fiscal Year 2025 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) account. We’ve reached out to the command for more details and will update this story with any pertinent information provided.
The command’s pitch has redacted the specific location where the drones would be used and the exact unit that would operate them. However, it does state that they would be operated by ODAs – Operational Detachment Alphas, or A-Teams, the basic building block of the U.S. Army’s Green Berets. The request also notes that the redacted unit “has limited UAS capabilities and is reliant upon external agencies to provide specialized assets. The equipment enables ODAs to gain a visual on the risks present on an obscured objective, prior to engagement. Without this capability, ODAs accept undue risk to the force by entering an objective without detect and defeat capabilities.”
Green Berets have already been training with FPV drones largely based on lessons learned in Ukraine. Last year, the Army announced it had hired private contractor Flymotion to provide drone and non-standard vehicle training services to a Green Beret A Team from the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), or 10th SFG(A), out of Fort Carson, Colorado. Since Flymotion received a sole-source deal, Army officials had to provide detailed justifications for not using typical competition contracting processes. That is the type of process SOCOM is seeking for the FPV drones. You can read more about Green Beret FPV drone training in our in-depth story here.
Though SOCOM has redacted the area where these drones will operate, given that the request is being made on behalf of SOCCENT, it most likely involves operations in the U.S. Central Command Area of Operations (AOR). That covers 21 nations in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.
During the so-called war on terror, U.S. and allied troops frequently found themselves battling the Taliban, ISIS and other jihadi groups in caves. Weaponized FPV drones, which were not in use back then, would be beneficial in any future U.S. SOF underground operation in that region.
The ability to fight underground is such a concern for SOCOM that in 2020 it requested more than $14 million to build a nearly 20,000-square-foot subterranean training site for Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) units like the U.S. Army’s Delta Force and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known as SEAL Team Six.
Israel has gained extensive experience in cave and tunnel fighting against Hamas and Hezbollah. Beyond Gaza and Lebanon, Israel also carried out a raid against an Iranian underground missile facility. That raid served as a warning to Iran that its underground facilities were not invincible. You can read more about that mission here.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have used FPV drones in Gaza mostly to “survey buildings and underground tunnels, given that this is the most precise method of navigating such spaces,” the Institute for National and Strategic Studies (INSS) noted last year in a report on FPV drone usage.
At the time, however, it was “unknown whether there has been any additional IDF procurement of drones, whether they have been deployed more widely and whether troops have been specially trained in their use for intelligence gathering or attacks, even though the IDF makes widespread use of other kinds of drones,” INSS posited.
However, the Israeli Ministry of Defense Department of Production and Procurement wants to procure thousands of FPV drones from Israeli companies for a wide range of offensive purposes, according to the Israeli Globes media outlet.
The initial solicitation called for 5,000 FPV drones, but that could expand to 20,000, the publication noted. So far, about 25 Israeli drone suppliers that work with the Ministry of Defense have registered for the tender.
As for SOCOM, the command says only one company is capable of providing the FPV drones and training required.
“After conducting market research and a comprehensive and thorough review of available options,” SOCOM said that it has selected the vendor, but that company’s name is redacted in the SAMs request, which does not state a specific timeline for fulfillment.
Though SOCOM is concerned about the risk of continued reliance on MWDs, it must be noted that no drone has the keen senses of sight and smell like that of a highly trained dog. These animals have frequently accompanied SOF teams on missions, including the 2019 raid that killed then-ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in his Syrian compound. Al-Baghdadi died after running into a dead-end tunnel with three children, chased by an MWD later identified as Conan. The ISIS leader detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and the three children, collapsing the tunnel and injuring Conan.
The U.S. military in general is pushing drones to smaller units, an effort ramped up by lessons from Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere.
However, American forces are still lagging behind in many ways when it comes to the ubiquity of FPV drones on the battlefield, regardless of the domain.
That SOCOM wants to purchase them, as well as the training it will take to make operators proficient, is another way U.S. special operations forces are working to close that gap.
TWZ Editor-in-Chief Tyler Rogoway contributed to this story.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com