The U.S. is apparently using anti-drone rifles against the Islamic State

A tweet posted last week by Peter Singer, a co-author of the book Ghost Fleet and a strategist at the New America Foundation, shows his book couched up against what appears to be a Battelle DroneDefender anti-drone rifle in a tent at Fire Base Bell outside Makhmour, Iraq, according to the Washington Post.

The advent and proliferation of small, cheap drones has had a lasting effect on the battlefields of the 21st century. From Syria to Ukraine, the devices have been used in myriad ways, from filming propaganda videos to observing enemy locations. The presence of a U.S. anti-drone system, while a seemingly sensible counter-measure against the Islamic State’s fondness for using the remote-controlled aircraft, is a small glimpse into how the American military is adapting to evolving battlefield threats in the wake of its two protracted ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is unclear when the picture was taken, though the small American base was first stood up in March. Now renamed the Kara Soar Counter-Fire Complex, the outpost has been responsible for providing artillery support for Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces as they attempt to move northwest into the Tigris River valley.

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KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan official says a military offensive has been launched against the Islamic State group in the country's far eastern region, according to Military.com.

Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said on Tuesday that the offensive began over the weekend in Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan.

It started hours after an IS suicide bomber killed at least 80 people who were taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Kabul on Saturday.

Waziri says President Ashraf Ghani gave the orders for the offensive. He says it will consist of airstrikes, ground attacks and clearing operations.

President Barack Obama recently expanded the conditions for U.S. troops in Afghanistan to support Afghan offensive operations.

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Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday touted the progress his signature innovation hubs have made over the past couple months since their reboot, and announced that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson were joining his Defense Innovation Advisory Board, according to the Washington Examiner.

The hubs have accelerated tech projects such as small drones that can operate in caves or tunnels and algorithms that can sift through millions of social media posts for terrorist propaganda.

The Silicon Valley innovation hub recently issued its first contract to Halo Neuroscience for a device that looks like a pair of headphones, but can use non-invasive electrical stimulation to make the brain better at adapting to training.

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Boeing's KC-46 tanker successfully refueled an A-10 combat aircraft, clearing the final hurdle before the Air Force approves the first production order, according to National Defense magazine.

The "milestone C" testing was completed July 15 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. During a four-hour flight, the KC-46 offloaded 1,500 pounds of fuel to the A-10, at 15,000 feet. "This completed the required air refueling demonstrations needed for the upcoming production milestone decision," said Boeing spokesman Chick Ramey. The program has racked up more than 900 flight test hours with five aircraft.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein is expected in August to approve the tanker to begin low-rate production. The Air Force will award a contract for the first two production lots for 19 aircraft, followed by a third lot in January 2017.

“It is great to see the KC-46 boom back in action and the program moving forward to a production decision” said Col. John Newberry, the KC-46 system program manager.

The A-10 refueling at marks "the final step we needed to see on the boom fix in order to request production go-ahead,” said Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, the Air Force program executive officer for tankers.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 10:19 AM with the headline "The U.S. is apparently using anti-drone rifles against the Islamic State."