Cheap and easily obtainable commercial drones are being weaponized in Colombia by guerrilla groups to target the military, a problem that has escalated so dramatically that the government has earmarked $1.6 billion for anti-drone equipment.
That’s a sweeping federal response to contend with drones that can cost as little as $600 and be purchased online from discount marketplaces such as Temu. But once armed with improvised explosives, the devices have had a devastating effect.
Since early 2024, at least 60 soldiers and police officers have been killed and more than 300 soldiers, police and civilians have been injured in drone attacks carried out by illegal armed groups, according to government and local reports.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said the proliferation of drone attacks has altered the country’s air superiority over such groups.
Last December, seven soldiers were killed and 30 wounded in an attack by the ELN guerrilla group at a rural military outpost. The National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, is one of the country’s most powerful armed organizations, long involved in the drug trade. It controls key drug-producing regions in Colombia and counts nearly 6,000 combatants. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has also been responsible for widespread drone attacks, according to the government.
And last August, three military personnel were killed in a drone attack at a checkpoint in southwest Colombia.
The government is looking to acquire electronic jamming equipment to combat the drone attacks.
What began as an improvised tactic has now forced a strategic reckoning. The drones, cheap and commercially available, have upended decades of doctrine built around territorial control and traditional air power. Instead of helicopters and fighter jets dominating the skies, small drones now slip through jungle canopies and across rural outposts, dropping explosives with precision and at minimal cost.
In recent remarks, President Petro described the shift starkly, saying Colombia’s “air advantage” had tilted toward drug traffickers and armed groups. The country, he said, is now engaged in a “war of drones and anti-drone weapons.” Between 2024 and 2025, authorities recorded more than 260 drone-based strikes, a sharp rise that has rattled security forces and underscored the urgency of a response.
That response is the National Anti-Drone Shield, or Escudo Nacional Antidrones, a sweeping initiative unveiled by the Ministry of Defense and described in official statements as one of the boldest and most innovative national security strategies in the country’s history. Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez has framed the program as essential to restoring state control over the skies.
According to the ministry, the shield’s strategic objective is to “guarantee airspace control, save lives, and anticipate new threats.” It specifically targets what officials describe as a “narcoterrorist” threat from FARC dissidents and the ELN, which have increasingly used improvised explosive drones to bypass traditional ground defenses.
The price tag reflects the scale of that ambition. The government has allocated approximately $1.68 billion — about 6.3 trillion Colombian pesos — for the project. An initial $271.1 million has been approved for 2026 to begin deployment, with funding secured under the national defense budget planning cycle. For a country facing competing social and economic demands, the investment underscores how profoundly the drone threat has altered military planning.
Officials describe the shield as a multilayered system. The first layer focuses on detection, using early-warning sensors and radar systems to track incoming drones. The second centers on neutralization, including electronic warfare tools such as jammers designed to disrupt drone signals, along with physical interceptors capable of disabling aircraft midflight.
A third layer involves command and coordination. The ministry plans to create a specialized Drone and Anti-Drone Group within the Defense Ministry to oversee operations, training and doctrine. The shield will also include both fixed and mobile components to protect borders, oil and gas infrastructure, military bases and major cities — an acknowledgment that the threat extends beyond remote jungle outposts.
Procurement has already drawn scrutiny, given the scale of spending and the technical complexity. Minister Sánchez has said the government will rely on direct contracting exclusively with companies backed by their respective governments, a move he says will ensure high standards and facilitate technology transfer.
The asymmetry at the heart of the conflict remains striking. Insurgent groups can deploy off-the-shelf drones costing hundreds of dollars to inflict casualties and sow fear. The government’s answer is a $1.6 billion technological shield, a vast and sophisticated architecture designed to counter devices that can be ordered online and modified in makeshift workshops.
Officials argue that failing to respond would be costlier. Beyond the loss of life, drone attacks have chipped away at the state’s aura of control in regions long contested by armed groups. Each successful strike carries weight.
Colombia’s drone problem is not merely about hardware. It is about the way inexpensive, widely available technology has reshaped the battlefield, compressing the gap between insurgent ingenuity and state power.
In Ukraine, drones have evolved from battlefield accessories into central instruments of war. Since Russia’s incursion in 2022, Ukrainian forces have used inexpensive commercial drones as strike weapons and artillery spotters. Small teams can now identify targets in real time, adjust fire within seconds and destroy armored vehicles with systems that cost a fraction of the machinery they are disabling. The result has been a powerful force multiplier.
That model has reshaped military thinking worldwide. Governments are studying how Ukraine blended commercial supply chains, rapid battlefield innovation and electronic warfare into strategy.
In countries such as Colombia, where armed groups have adopted similar low-cost drone tactics, officials appear to be drawing lessons from that playbook: if drones can so dramatically level the battlefield, counter-drone systems must become as agile.
