“A drone strike is a terror weapon; we don’t talk about it that way…there is going to be an explosion across the street from some place up in the sky that you can’t see. Somebody will be killed…maybe you’ll be injured, if you’re there. That is a terror weapon. It terrorizes villages, regions, huge areas. It’s the most massive terror campaign going on by a long shot.”— Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus at MIT.
Recent photographs released by the U.S. Air Force very clearly depict F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16CM Fighting Falcon jet fighters, each armed with six LAU-131A/A rocket pods, holding a total of 42 laser-guided, AGR-20F FALCO missiles, also known as the Advanced, Precision-Kill, Weapon System II, or APKWS II. The acronym “FALCO” stands for Fixed-wing, Air-Launched, Counter-unmanned aircraft systems Ordnance, a variant with its software upgraded to improve counter-drone capabilities.
It’s especially noteworthy that the F-15E Strike Eagles are also fully loaded with four AIM-120C-7/C-8 Slammer/AMRAAM radar-guided missiles, and four AIM-9X-2 Super Sidewinder infrared-guided missiles, and they were already deployed to the Middle East region, most likely operating from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, near Azraq, Jordan, since October 2024, and upgraded to the anti-drone configuration by May 2025.
The F-16CMs are seen fully armed with two AIM-120C-7/C-8 missiles and two AIM-9X-2s, in addition to the capability to carry 42 AGR-20F FALCO laser-guided missiles. Until recently, they carried just one or two rocket pods full of FALCOs, but as of May 2025, they now appear to be armed to the teeth for counter-drone operations.
These newly-released photographs show that Air Force F-15E and F-16CM fighters, both in the United States, and deployed to the Middle East, are now being outfitted with highly-accurate, laser-guided, lower-cost missiles in order to counter the growing threat of unmanned, aerial vehicles (UAVs), or enemy drones, especially suicide/attack drones, as used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The AGR-20F is a much less expensive option for aerial combat, costing an estimated $35,000 per copy, compared to, $500,000 for an AIM-9X, or over $1 million for an AIM-120C Slammer. The manufacturer, BAE Systems, has previously and successfully tested the AGR-20 in a counter-drone role in June 2021, adding a proximity fuze to the weapon, and by 2024, it was fully operational against the Houthis. The missile is over six feet long and weighs 32 pounds, including a 10-pound, M151 or M282 high-explosive warhead. When fired from a fixed-wing aircraft, its effective range is 1.2 to 6.8 miles, employing a semi-active laser seeker.
Each fighter detects drones through its APG-82(V)1 (for the F-15E) or APG-83 (for the F-16CM) search radar, or the AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) carried by both aircraft beneath the fuselage, using high-definition, electro-optical and infrared sensors, with a built-in, laser target illuminator to guide the missiles.
According to the U.S. Central Command in mid-March 2025, “U.S. and Coalition Forces have destroyed over 325 Houthi drones since January 2024, including over 200 in-flight…U.S. fighter aircraft shoot down Iran-backed, Houthi, one-way-attack drones with AGR-20 FALCO.”
Currently, BAE Systems is also working on a new, Advanced Precision Kit (APK), including an infrared seeker, as well as the original, laser guidance, making the upgraded missile a more versatile, reliable, dual-mode weapon.
The proliferation of drone warfare is most apparent in the brutal and ongoing, Russia-Ukraine War, where the United Nations reported in January 2025 that short-range drones caused more casualties than any other weapon in Ukraine, stating that, “Short-range drones now pose one of the deadliest threats to civilians in frontline areas…(They) killed and injured more civilians than any other weapon, striking people in their cars, on buses, and on streets.”
As a direct result of the United States lagging behind in battlefield drone technology, President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy are reaching a landmark, arms deal, in which the U.S. would buy $10-to-$30 billion worth of combat-proven, Ukrainian military drones, in exchange for Ukraine receiving more weapons, especially air defense systems, from America.
In fact, the U.S. Army’s latest, M10 Booker combat assault vehicle (light tank) program was cancelled on May 1, 2025, “In response to current, global events, and in support of…strategic objectives,” with the most frequent question being, “Why should we build a $14-million tank that can easily be destroyed by a $5,000 drone?” Why, indeed?
According to American Vanguard on July 25, 2025, “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth aims to equip every Army division with drones and anti-drone systems by the end of next year. However, clarity is lacking regarding the extent of these capabilities, and the preparedness of the Army’s doctrine and training.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is taking active measures to counter swarms of enemy drones by arming its frontline fighters with vast quantities of lower-cost, laser-guided, exceptionally-accurate, AGR-20F FALCOs. Never before in history has any combat aircraft been armed with as many as 50 precision-guided, air-to-air missiles, a truly impressive innovation to confront the dramatic changes in modern, aerial warfare.