In recent weeks, a number of drones have been sighted over New Jersey, sparking concern and thousands of phone calls to report them. Some of those drones have been sighted over Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, both in New Jersey.
During a background conference call today, officials from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and Joint Chiefs of Staff provided comments and answered reporters' questions about the drone sightings.
A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff acknowledged the presence of drones over two military facilities in New Jersey, but said such sightings were typical.
“We have confirmed sightings at Picatinny Arsenal and Earle Naval Weapons Station,” the spokesman said. “This is not a new problem for us. We have had to deal with drone strikes on our bases for a long time. It is something we routinely respond to in every case when reports are cited.”
The spokesman said that military installations have means to detect and respond to such drones, and that security personnel are trained to identify, classify and use those tools to prevent drones from unauthorized flights over US military bases.
Currently, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and Department of Defense have not been able to determine who is responsible for the drone flights, and there is no indication that hostile nations are involved.
The spokesman said: “So far, we do not have any intelligence information or observations indicating that they were allied with a foreign party or that they had malicious intentions.” “But…we don't know. We haven't been able to identify or identify the operators or points of origin.”
The spokesman said the military has “limited powers” when it comes to conducting investigations outside military installations in the United States, and is also prohibited from conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the United States that could be used to identify assets. Who may fly drones. But the spokesman also said those military installations have good relationships with local law enforcement, who can conduct investigations outside the facility.
“We have to coordinate with law enforcement to try to do that, which we are doing,” the spokesman said. “We do this routinely at almost all of our locations. We have good relationships and excellent coordination, and we respond quickly to try to identify them.”
The spokesperson also said the administration is frustrated by the rise of drones.
“The key point is to deter activity using some of our electronic means that can respond to most of these small commercial systems and prevent them from accessing the airspace above our bases,” the spokesman said. “We don't know what the activity is. We don't know… if it's criminal. But I will tell you it's irresponsible. Here on the military side, we're also frustrated by the irresponsible nature of this activity.”
