Want To Beat Drone Swarms? Bring Back The Army Divisions Built For Nuclear War

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – Should the Army bring back the Pentomic Division? In the late 1950s, when everyone expected World War III to go nuclear, the U.S. Army had to contemplate operating on a battlefield sprouting atomic fireballs.

This put Army planners in a dilemma. Military theory said that forces had to be concentrated to overwhelm the enemy and achieve decisive results. Common sense said that massing troops would only present a juicy target for nuclear weapons.

The Army ultimately settled on the Pentomic Division, which consisted of self-contained battalions that would assemble for operations and then disperse. Yet the idea proved so unwieldy that the Army soon discarded it.

But 70 years later, the Army faces a similar dilemma. Instead of atomic bombs, the threat now comes from drones, as vividly demonstrated in the Ukraine war.

To survive, Ukrainian and Russian forces have learned to operate in dispersed groups — sometimes as small as four to six soldiers — for fear of attracting the attention of a drone swarm.

But lack of mass foregoes the possibility of decisive maneuver — and victory — and the conflict has degenerated into a grinding war of attrition.

A British expert has a solution: Resurrect the Pentomic concept.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

Even as Air Force and Northrop Grumman work on restructuring the Sentinel nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile program, the contractor continues to knock down risk and developmental milestones on the project.

HOMELAND SECURITY

Judge agrees to extend block on President Trump’s federalized National Guard deployment in Chicago while awaiting Supreme Court ruling. (RELATED: Yes, Drug Cartels Are A National Security Threat)

Cuts to various agencies and the politicization of disinfo-tracking work [IT WAS ALREADY HIGHLY POLITICIZED] have slowed implementation goals set out five years ago by a congressionally authorized cybersecurity policy group.

DEFENSE POLITICS

Leaders at the Pentagon have significantly altered how military officials will speak with Congress after a pair of new memos issued last week.

Pentagon touts ‘next generation’ press corps of mostly conservative outlets, following the mass exodus of legacy outlets from the building who refused to sign the department’s restrictive new press policy.

Judge orders ‘immediate’ return of books removed from 5 DOD schools. Six military families at five DOD schools notched a victory this week in getting potentially inappropriate library books returned to their schools’ shelves.

US POWER OVERSEAS

U.S. military conducted its eighth strike against an alleged drug vessel, this time in the Pacific Ocean, killing two narcos.

Nearly fifty soldiers from the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 745th Military Police Detachment deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield.

Forward-deployed U.S. sailors and Marines are training alongside the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and other allied militaries in the Philippine Sea as part of Annualex, a multilateral exercise held every other year.

Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Waesche returned to its Base Alameda home port Oct. 10, concluding a 105-day Arctic deployment spanning over 21,000 nautical miles.

U.S and Europe fly a lot of the same jets but can’t always fix each other’s warplanes. Common aircraft models — such as the F-35 and F-16 — should mean common spare parts, ground support equipment and mechanics who can fix similar planes from different nations

CHINA THREAT

As China advances, Congress wants DOD to get up to speed on biotechnology. Pentagon personnel could soon be told to participate in new training programs designed to prepare them for anticipated advancements in biotech and its convergence with other critical and emerging technologies, like quantum computing and AI. (RELATED: China Stealing American DNA To Engineer Communist Super Soldiers)

Philippine forces trained last week to defend Balabac, a strategic island in Palawan that is set to host a new military base dedicated to South China Sea operations.

RUSSIA THREAT

After months of holding off, the Trump administration will announce new Russia sanctions.

How Europe is trying to turn frozen Russian assets into cash for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy calls Trump’s proposal to freeze war at current frontlines ‘good compromise.’ Trump’s remark seen as modest win for Ukrainian president, even as Russia says it will not accept arrangement.

Europe must ensure long-term public support for Ukraine, expert says. For Ukraine to overcome the odds, a long-term commitment is needed.

Ukrainian and Swedish leaders signed a cooperation deal, which would see Sweden buy up to 150 Gripen fighters from its domestic company Saad before exporting them to Ukraine.

For the first time in this Congress, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved measures that would hold Russia to account for its war on Ukraine, but the bills’ outlook is murky.

Royal Navy deploys destroyer with NATO to shadow Russian warship. U.K. regularly reports on its efforts at monitoring the movement of Russian warships and support ships through the English Channel, but recently it marked a first with NATO.

MIDDLE EAST THREATS

Israel’s parliament advances bill to annex occupied West Bank. The bill passed 25-24, despite opposition from PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in the first of four votes it will face to become law. (RELATED: Ceasefire In Jeopardy: Hamas Violence Tests Trump’s Plan)

NORTH KOREA THREAT

North Korea test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, just days before Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders in South Korea.

SPACE THREATS

Lunar mining gold rush is coming – and success requires bridging two worlds. Traditional mining expertise plus space startup innovation will equal the winning formula for lunar resource extraction.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Japan plans to tell Trump it will build up its military after years of low 1% defense spending.

Japan, like South Korea, has proposed large investments to expand and modernize its shipbuilding operations and double capacity.

Germany is offering Canada to join its Type 212CD submarine program, alongside Norway, as part of a broader defense cooperation that would more closely align Berlin and Ottawa.

US MILITARY

A gold mine in Stibnite, Idaho, that once churned out critical minerals for the U.S. military during World War II was resurrected last month by the U.S. Army and Perpetua Resources Inc.

Every barracks room and “unaccompanied housing” unit in the Air Force will get a direct inspection in the coming days to ensure that airmen are living in “clean, comfortable, and safe” conditions.

General Atomics recently showed what it says is a rendering of an MQ-20 Avenger drone armed with a laser directed energy weapon.

Defense tech startup Shield AI has entered the market for loyal wingman drones with its new vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) uncrewed fighter jet called X-BAT.

END of PDB

READ NEXT: Special Prosecutor Opens Investigation Into Top Dem Candidate