U.S. tech firms and government agencies are running to design defences against potential terrorist drone aggression, a threat that has security professionals increasingly worried as they’ve observed the upgrade of drone warfare in Israel, Ukraine and Yemen.
The drones utilised in the attacks have frequently come in the form of small, remote-controlled aircraft famous among hobbyists. They’re either outfitted with a little explosive to be settled on the target or are simply crashed into a target as a self-detonating, one-way drone. Now, dozens of tech businesses are working on systems to prevent possible drone attacks, including within the U.S., where civilian areas might potentially be targeted, according to academics and industry analysts.
“The fact that we haven’t had any heavy domestic incidents is a blessing and comes as a surprise due to the potential impact,” stated Jamey Jacob, an engineering professor at Oklahoma State University and director of the university’s Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education.
Developments in growth in the drone defence sector range from communications-jamming tools to guns that shoot rapidly growing nets to experimental lasers. Some of these creations are quietly going through testing supported by the Department of Homeland Security at remote sites in Oklahoma and North Dakota, and reviewers expect demand to increase rapidly, with potential customers including police departments, airports and sports stadiums.
The companies performing drone countermeasures vary from major defence contractors such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to tech startups making “GPS spoofers” that convince a drone it’s somewhere else. Other products depend on concentrated microwave shots to fry a drone’s electronics or hacking instruments to take over a drone’s operation.
The Department of Homeland Security has attempted to speed up the research into developments and prototypes, forming alliances with at least two universities — Oklahoma State and the University of North Dakota — to help assess different drone countermeasures.
The Biden administration has enabled the push in the anti-drone sector in multiple forms, issuing a call last year for universities, private organisations and other researchers to come up with renewed ideas to address the threat. The government has also pushed for legislation to develop who can legally force down a drone — an authority that under current regulation is generally restricted to federal agents. That legislation is pending in Congress.
There’s already been at least one possible shot at a drone attack within the U.S.: In July 2020, someone dispatched a drone over a Pennsylvania power substation with the possible intention of short-circuiting the electric grid, according to an intelligence bulletin written by ABC News. The attempt failed, and no one has been arrested.
Since then, federal practices have ramped up. In 2022, the White House unleashed a plan for countering domestic drone threats including the invention of a database to track happenings, the founding of an anti-drone training centre, and the suggested expansion of legal authority so that state and local law enforcement — or even power plant operators, potentially — are entitled to shoot down drones in certain circumstances.
