DoD's rush to counter drone threat may cause safety risks, specialist says

Exclusive Politics Pentagon rush to counter drone threat may be undermining safety standards, Army explosive safety specialist warns By James LaPorta James LaPorta National security coordinating producer James LaPorta is the national security coordinating producer for the CBS News' Washington bureau. He is a former U.S. Marine veteran infantryman and veteran of the Afghanistan war. Read Full Bio James LaPorta May 15, 2026 / 12:04 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — As the U.S. military races to adapt low-cost, expendable drones for battlefield use, an Army explosive safety specialist warned that the Defense Department's rush to innovate may be outpacing basic explosive safeguards, raising the risk of accidents.  The assessment was tucked inside a memo obtained by CBS News detailing how a mini-drone had detonated, causing injuries to an Army Special Forces soldier.  In a March memorandum, a civilian U.S. Army employee — with more than 20 years of experience in uniform and as a civilian employee evaluating and monitoring safety experience in the service — cautioned that while U.S. Army Special Forces units are adept at improvising solutions in the field, the broader drive to counter unmanned aerial threats has imposed  pressures that could undermine long-established safety standards.  "We fully understand [Special Forces]'s ability to innovate and create tactical solutions to accomplish a mission set [or] task," the memo states, but it goes on to say that the safety specialist believes that the Defense Department "is in such a rush to solve future and enduring threats related to [unmanned aerial systems]" that "basic explosive safety principles are being ignored," and "will ultimately lead to a greater risk associated with mishaps [or] accidents." Drones have been used for decades by the U.S. military, particularly during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Russia-Ukraine conflict has dramatically expanded...