Episode #110 – The Drone Swarm Wake-Up Call: Is the US and our Allies Ready?

🎙️ Episode 110 – The Drone Swarm Wake-Up Call: Is the US and our Allies Ready?

Welcome to the 110th episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! I’m Mark Hasara, former Air Force KC-135 pilot, Weapons School graduate, and author of Tanker Pilot. For 60 years, aviation has been my world—from flying gas station in the sky to mission planning at the highest levels of command.

This episode is a battle cry.

💥 Ukraine Just Changed the Air Warfare Game Over the weekend, Ukraine launched one of the boldest moves we’ve ever seen in modern air warfare: a long-range drone swarm strike against Russian strategic air bases—some over 2,800 miles from the front lines. Hundreds of one-way suicide drones—hidden in tractor trailers, driven across borders—rained down on strategic bombers, airlifters, and AWACS aircraft sitting out in the open.

And guess what?

It worked. It was well planned, audaciously and flawlessly executed, and was a historic bookmark in air warfare! These drone attacks are a harsh warning to the rest of the world: if your aircraft are sitting in the open unprotected, they’re dead on the ramp.

🚨 America Is NOT Ready!

Here’s the hard truth—we’re just as exposed.

Our tankers, bombers, airlifters, and command-and-control platforms sit outdoors, vulnerable. We’ve allowed millions of unvetted people to cross our borders. Some are not here for the American dream. Some have a different mission. We are under attack—but not just by bombs and bullets. It’s happening across what two Chinese Air Force Colonels described as Unrestricted Warfare: 15 kinds of war with no rules, no boundaries, and no mercy. Here’s they unrestricted warfare they’re using:

Cultural - Economic - Environmental - Finacial - Illegal Drugs - International Law - Information and Media - Telecom and Networks - Political - Psychological - Smuggling - Technology - Terrorists - Gangs

What do we see every night right now and the warning posted for 14 June? Almost every one of those 15 categories of war. And remember... NO RESTRICTIONS! 

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This isn’t a story—it’s a warning order.

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And remember… Nobody Kicks Ass Without Tanker Gas... NOBODY!