User:Jseagrave198/sandbox

= Battle of Holding Point Mike 1 =

Description
The Battle of Holding Point Mike 1 is an ongoing conflict between the British Armed Forces and a couple of unmanned aerial vehicles of unknown size and origin, which is being fought in the vicinity of Gatwick Airport, in southern England.

Battle
At roughly 9:00pm local time on 19th December, 2018, Gatwick Airport staff closed the airport to departures and arrivals, citing two drones spotted operating "over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from". The airport remained totally closed until 3:01am the following morning, at which point normal operations were resumed. This period of activity was sustained for only 45 minutes, until further drone sightings were reported and the airport was once again closed.

Police were called to the scene, prepared to fire on the drone with small arms fire, but did not amidst concerns of damage from stray bullets. The airport remains closed while police continue to search for the drone operator.

At roughly 5:00pm, Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed that British Armed Forces would attend the battle to provide support to the Police. At 16:49 the British Army announced it was deploying "specialist equipment" to the front lines.