Military set to launch drone tests over Guam next week

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

Small drones will fill the skies over the waters of Guam next week for the Department of War’s operational tests, a component of the Pentagon's efforts to accelerate the integration of unmanned aircraft systems technology into its combat strategy.

The U.S. Coast Guard, upon instruction from the war department’s Strategic Capabilities Office, will restrict vessel traffic within the wargames area, covering portions of the Philippine Sea north of Andersen Air Force Base, during the test hours between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m., from Jan. 26 to 30.

“The safety zone is needed to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from potential hazards created by a Department of War small Unmanned Aircraft System testing event,” reads the Coast Guard’s final rule published Jan. 21 in the Federal Register.

“The Captain of the Port Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam has determined that potential hazards associated with this military testing event are a safety concern for anyone on the waters in the vicinity of the operation,” it added.

Invoking its authority to impose a rule without prior notice and public comment, the U.S. Coast Guard said “delaying the effective date of this rule would be contrary to the public interest because immediate action is needed to provide for the safety of personnel and vessels near the DoW sUAS testing event.”

Restricted area: The following area is a safety zone: All waters of the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean, from surface to bottom, encompassed by a line connecting the following points, beginning at 13°37′30″ N, 144°53′30″ E; thence to 13°38′30″ N, 144°51′00″ E; thence to 13°41′00″ N, 144°51′00″ E; thence to 13°41′00″ N, 144°53′50″ E; and back to the point of origin. These coordinates are based on the World Geodetic System.

The Coast Guard said vessel traffic can safely transit around this regulated area. The enforcement period is during a time when vessel traffic is normally low, it said.

Enforcement hours. 

Jan. 26: from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
Jan. 27: from 5:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
Jan. 28: from 2: 30 to 10 p.m. 
Jan. 29: from 12 noon to 2 p.m. 
Jan. 30: to Be announced by Marine Broadcast as needed

Rushing to catch up with modern warfare, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last year announced a $1 billion initiative intended to deliver 300,000 one-way attack drones to U.S. service members over the next two years to address the growing threat of hostile drones.

“Drone dominance is a process race as much as a technological race,” Hegseth said in a July 2025 memo, which laid out his plan to meet President Donald Trump’s June 6, 2025, executive order to “deliver drones to our warfighters.”

The Pentagon seeks to fire up a "technological leapfrog" by arming combat units with “the very best of low-cost American-made drones, and finally, training as the department expects to fight.”

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