Barksdale Air Force Base, east of Shreveport, Louisiana, is home to dozens of B-52 bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. On March 9, 2026, the base issued a shelter-in-place order after detecting multiple unauthorized drones. The order was lifted later that day. The drones were not.

According to a confidential internal briefing viewed by ABC News, Barksdale security forces watched multiple waves of 12 to 15 drones from March 9 to 15. They flew over the flight line and other sensitive areas, then spread out across the installation. The briefing said the aircraft showed non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming.

Base officials said they were investigating with federal and local law enforcement and would keep monitoring the airspace. A spokesperson noted that flying a drone over a military installation is a federal crime. The briefing excerpt doesn’t say who launched the drones or whether any were brought down. Former Pentagon official Mick Mulroy told ABC it looked deliberate, intended to see how the base would react.

The incursions came as bases nationwide tightened security during the war with Iran, and they echo a run of drone incursions over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in late 2023.