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The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) have issued a joint statement on reported drone sightings following separate statements made last week.
On December 12, the DHS and FBI issued a joint statement which said there had been no confirmed drone sightings in restricted airspace. A separate comment from the DoD mentioned “irresponsible” activity. And a statement from the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) said the US is currently “ill-equipped to reliably distinguish between lawful drone operations, careless activity, and potential threats”.
In today’s era of misinformation and disinformation, conspiracy theorists have inevitably run wild. The new statement, issued on December 16, sends a more coherent and detailed message, and one that may ease some concerns among the public.
“The FBI has received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated, and the federal government is supporting state and local officials in investigating these reports. Consistent with each of our unique missions and authorities, we are quickly working to prioritise and follow these leads. We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.
“Additionally, there have been a limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted air space. Such sightings near or over DoD installations are not new. DoD takes unauthorised access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate. Local commanders are actively engaged to ensure there are appropriate detection and mitigation measures in place.”
The statement also notes that there are more than one million drones lawfully registered with the FAA in the US and there are typically thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones lawfully in the sky each day. With the technology landscape evolving, the agencies say they expect that number to increase over time.
“We continue to support state and local authorities with advanced detection technology and support of law enforcement. We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.”
On December 15, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said a new drone detection system was to be installed. “In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State. This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations. We are grateful to the Biden Administration for their support, but ultimately we need further assistance from Congress. Passing the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act will give New York and our peers the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today.”