While US Southern Command does not have “sufficient” US military assets to help in the fight against the drug trade, it hasn’t faced a significant shortfall in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assistance, SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. John Kelly said Jan. 8 during a Pentagon briefing. However, the command is encouraging partner nations throughout the region to purchase its own ISR assets to help surveil targets in their own countries, he said. These will likely be cheaper models manufactured in other countries that would be more easily acquired, Kelly said. SOUTHCOM largely depends on surveillance from P-3 Orion aircraft, flown by both the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Navy. “I don’t get much ISR, but I don’t need an awful lot more,” Kelly said. A greater need is helicopters to be used to interdict ships carrying drugs, he said.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.