- "Brother, sister indicted in alleged IED plot at Florida Air Force base tied to Iran war; 1 suspect in China"--Fox News. A pair of Chinese siblings have been indicted for planting an IED at the Florida CENTCOM base.
The FBI said Alen Zheng, who is believed to have planted the device, is currently in China. He is facing charges of attempted damage to government property by fire or explosion, unlawful making of a destructive device and possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carry a potential sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
FBI Tampa also arrested his sister, Ann Mary Zheng, who is charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence, facing up to 30 years in prison.
[snip]
The pair's mother, who admitted to authorities that her son confessed to the plot, is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody pending deportation for a visa overstay, but has not been criminally charged as of Thursday afternoon.
“In the early hours of Operation Epic Fury last month, a deployed [flyaway kit of counter-UAS technologies] successfully detected and defeated sUAS [drones] operating over a strategic U.S. installation,” NORTHCOM chief Gen. Gregory M. Guillot reported to Congress last week.
But 10 days later on March 9, Barksdale [Air Force Base] implemented a “shelter-in-place” order after another drone incursion, 2nd Bomb Wing spokesman Capt. Hunter Rininger confirmed last week that “multiple unauthorized incursions” have happened since.
“Between March 9-15, 2026, BAFB Security Forces observed multiple waves of 12-15 drones operating over sensitive areas of the installation, including the flight line, with aircraft displaying non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming,” a confidential briefing obtained by ABC News said. “After reaching multiple points across the installation, the drones dispersed across sensitive locations on the base.”
The same briefing claimed that the drones were far more sophisticated than anything consumers can buy off the shelf.
[snip]
According to ABC News, later incursions "lasted around four hours each day and the drones used varied routes of ingress and deliberate maneuvering within restricted airspace," and Barksdale had to suspend [B-52] operations against Iran. It's safe to assume that Barksdale's defenses in some way failed.
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