Sen. Tim Kaine expresses frustration over the lack of answers regarding drone incursions at Langley Air Force Base.

Despite the passage of nearly a year, Sen. Tim Kaine remains "very frustrated" with the "so many unanswered questions" that still surround the mysterious drones that hovered near a top-secret military base in Virginia for 17 days.

On Thursday, the Virginia Democrat stated that his delegation would receive a confidential briefing about the current situation.

In December 2023, for more than two weeks, enigmatic drones entered prohibited airspace above the installation, which houses critical national security facilities and the F-22 Raptor stealth aircraft.

The Pentagon has not disclosed any information about the incidents other than confirming that they happened after a Wall Street Journal report in October. Officials have not shared with Congress where the drones came from or what they were doing if they know.

Kaine expressed his frustration with the unanswered questions surrounding the incursions at Langley, which have been ongoing for a year.

Due to the absence of a standard protocol for drone incursions, Langley officials were uncertain on how to proceed, except to permit the 20-foot drones to hover near their classified facilities.

One congressional source said that as defense-minded lawmakers sought more answers, Northern Command referred them to local law enforcement, who in turn referred them to the FBI.

Kaine stated that he would continue to pressure federal agencies to establish a clear, responsible agency for providing answers, instead of having them blame each other and direct individuals to other agencies for responses.

At Langley, the drones present do not seem to be armed, but they are likely there for surveillance purposes. Additionally, they disrupted training exercises.

Recently, UAS have been sighted near Picatinny Arsenal and over President-elect Trump's golf club in Bedminster, causing him to cancel a planned trip to the club.

U.S. military bases in Ohio, the United Kingdom, and Germany have experienced drone incursions and UAS sightings, leading to the closure of airspace at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio on Friday night.

The government's counter-drone authorities will be reauthorized in a spending bill that must be passed before the week ends. However, drone experts argue that the program is outdated and needs to be updated. National security-focused lawmakers and experts urge Congress to pass legislation that would enhance the government's detection capabilities and allow state and local law enforcement to handle unauthorized drones.

There are multiple methods in the U.S. to bring down a drone, such as firing at them, using heat lasers to disable them, and jamming their frequencies to make them lose control and descend.

The legal authority surrounding incursions like the one at Langley is unclear, despite ongoing debates about whether Congress needs to change laws.

The issue of too many cooks is a bit of a problem, and it's unclear who is the chef," Kaine stated. "The FAA, FBI, and DOD are all investigating the matter.

"The authorities responsible for taking down drones in a war zone, such as Syria or Iraq, are more clear-cut than those in a domestic setting, like Hampton, where the debris might fall into residential areas."

Overseas, when drones get too close to military bases, service members have more freedom to respond.

U.S. law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near its bases unless they pose an immediate threat. While Langley has the authority to safeguard its coastal base, the Coast Guard is responsible for protecting the waters, and the Federal Aviation Administration oversees U.S. airspace, which is one of the busiest in the world with commercial airliners.

Last week, a Chinese national was charged with flying an unauthorized drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. In October, Chinese national Fengyun Shi was sentenced to six months in prison for capturing drone footage over Huntington Ingalls Industries Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, 10 miles from Langley Air Force Base.

In October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department's Nevada National Security Site, which is used for nuclear weapons experiments. The identity of the individuals behind the drones was unknown to U.S. authorities.

Last year, a Chinese surveillance balloon flew over the U.S. for a week before being shot down by the Air Force off the coast.

In 2024, unidentified drone incursions occurred at the highly classified aerospace development site of the U.S. Air Force's Plant 42 in California, resulting in flight restrictions around the site.