Since mid-November 2024, US residents in several East Coast states have reported bright lights flying low at night, which many observers believe to be unmanned aerial systems (UASs), commonly called drones. To date, federal and state authorities have been unable to explain or confirm these sightings, suggesting that some may be attributed to manned aircraft or helicopters. Despite the inconclusive results of their investigative efforts, government officials maintained that the sightings did not appear to pose a threat to public safety or national security. Meanwhile, local residents and lawmakers have expressed growing concerns, calling on the government to do more to stop drones and understand their purpose. This is just the latest in a series of drone sightings over the past few years — including over sensitive locations in the United States and allied countries — to confuse authorities, raising questions about the US government's ability to identify and track drones operating in the United States. . airspace, as well as assessing and responding to drone threats.
Q1: What did East Coast residents see in the night sky over the past month?
A1: On November 19, 2024, the Morris County, New Jersey District Attorney's Office issued a press release stating that county agencies were investigating reports of drone activity, which local law enforcement officers had observed the night before. Since then, residents in other parts of New Jersey and in several neighboring states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, have reported dozens of similar unexplained drone sightings. The Governor of Maryland reported seeing dozens of large drones over his residence on December 12, 2024. On December 13, 2024, a Navy public affairs officer confirmed that unidentified drones repeatedly entered restricted airspace over Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey. Drones have also been reported near other critical infrastructure and the US Army's Picatinny Arsenal.
The investigation into the drone sightings is led by the FBI, with support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and state and local law enforcement organizations. So far, White House, FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials have said they have no reason to believe the sightings pose any threat to safety or security. Additionally, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed that the US military does not operate these drones, also stating that defense officials do not believe the drones were sent by a “foreign entity or adversary.” However, lawmakers continue to press federal officials for answers, with senators from New Jersey and New York sending a letter to the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other congressional leaders questioning the federal response during a recent hearing. In addition to expressing frustration at the government's inability to explain these sightings, many have called on the US military to shoot down the drones.
The second question: Why cannot the authorities identify the drones responsible for these sightings?
A2: The FAA is responsible for integrating drone operations into the National Airspace System (NAS), an air traffic control service that manages more than 45,000 flights daily across nearly 30 million square miles of U.S. airspace. Drones are difficult to track using traditional radar systems, which best track objects with large radar cross-sections and at higher altitudes than at which drones typically operate. Although radar systems can sometimes detect drones, they may mistake those objects for birds because radar alone cannot classify detected objects. Drones can fly erratically and change speed rapidly, as well as operate in large groups or flocks, like many birds, making them more difficult to track using conventional radar. Historically, the U.S. military's efforts to identify and track airborne threats to the homeland have focused on ballistic missiles and bombers, meaning the sensors and algorithms that process radar data are ill-equipped for drone threats. In addition, not all data from sensors operated by civilian agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is integrated into military tracking structures for homeland defense, meaning that neither military nor civilian officials have the full picture of potential airborne threats. In the United States. Airspace. In addition to the impacts on drone tracking, the focus on ballistic missiles and bombers and the lack of full integration of military and civilian sensors partly explains how some Chinese balloons flying at high altitudes over the United States over the past few years have gone undetected, indicating What a senior military official described as a “domain awareness gap.”
To overcome the shortcomings of traditional radar, officials in New Jersey announced that they will use an advanced radar system that works with a heat sensor and a camera to track and identify unidentified drones. In addition, a network of acoustic sensors, as proven in Ukraine, can be used to successfully identify and track drones. Although deploying such a system along the East Coast may take some time, deploying a similar network of acoustic sensors in the United States, especially around sensitive locations such as critical infrastructure, airports, and military facilities, could help identify and track drones. pilot. the future.
Drones weighing more than 250 grams are required to broadcast identifying information, including location, altitude, speed and the location of a human controller, as part of an FAA initiative called Remote ID. However, some drones, such as those operated by the US government, are not required to broadcast identification signals remotely. Although local law enforcement organizations may have difficulties accessing remote identity data, federal officials should have access to this “digital license plate” and information about drone operators and operations. Federal officials don't appear to have gotten much information about drones and their operators from Remote ID, suggesting that many UAS are not complying with the Remote ID rule, which went into effect in April 2024 as part of FAA regulations covering aircraft operations. Drones in the United States. Airspace.
Question 3: How does the United States regulate drone operations?
A3: The Federal Aviation Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, is responsible for regulating U.S. civil aviation and ensuring the safe and efficient use of the nation's airspace, including by civilian and military operators. Some states and localities place additional rules beyond the FAA's requirements on drone operators. The FAA requires any drone weighing more than 250 grams (about half a pound) to be registered. As of October 1, 2024, there were approximately 800,000 FAA-registered drones in the United States. Two sets of FAA rules cover most drones: one for drones weighing less than 55 pounds, which the FAA classifies as small drones, and another for drones weighing more than 55 pounds.
According to these rules, small drone operators cannot fly above 400 feet, need a permit to fly in controlled airspaces, such as nearby airports, and must see their drones at all times while flying, among other rules. Drone operators can qualify for exemptions to many of these individual rules, although operators must adhere to more stringent standards to obtain them. While many quadcopter drones weigh, at most, only a few pounds and can fit in the palm of a hand, other fixed-wing drones classified as mini drones have wingspans approaching eight feet. Some drones used for commercial purposes, such as package delivery, chemical and agricultural product distribution, and air taxis, weigh more than 55 pounds and are subject to specific Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. In addition, unmanned aerial systems performing a government function, regardless of their weight, can operate under special rules. Specifically, the US military operates a variety of drones of varying sizes, with the largest having a maximum takeoff weight of nearly 35,000 pounds and a wingspan of 130 feet — a wingspan longer than a Boeing 737 airliner.
Q4: What can the authorities do to stop these drones?
A4: There are a number of technologies, such as signal jamming, cyber operations, kinetic weapons such as bullets, and high-energy weapons, that can be used to disable or destroy drones. No individual or private entity in the United States may legally shoot at a drone, as it is prohibited under federal law to shoot at any crewed or uncrewed aircraft. However, there are some agencies that can legally take countermeasures to irregular weather systems. In 2018, DHS was granted authority to counter drone threats, but this authority is limited to protecting facilities or assets that support DHS's mission, certain events, and other specified special operations. The US military's ability to respond to drone threats over US soil is also limited. In explaining their legal authority, defense officials have proposed using signal jamming devices, cyberattacks, nets, and “stringy and stringy” to stop drones that threaten U.S. national security facilities. Typically, local law enforcement agencies also do not have the authority to disable drones, although the New York Police Department has petitioned federal officials to provide it with this authority, citing the prevalence of drone threats to New York City.
Ultimately, federal authorities maintain that these drone sightings do not indicate any threat, so regardless of which agency has the authority to disable the drones, the absence of a threat negates any need for action. It remains to be seen why Remote ID cannot be used to collect more information about drone operators. Unless the drones are operated by the US government, they must broadcast identification signals remotely. If none of the drones involved in the sightings were installed or broadcasting a remote ID, federal authorities may also clear up the discrepancy. If confirmed, the lack of remote identification broadcasts may indicate that the success of the FAA's efforts to integrate UAS systems into the NAS has been limited.
Q5: What other sightings of unidentified drones have occurred recently?
A5: Regardless of the resolution of these recent sightings, these recent reports of unidentified drones are just the tip of the iceberg for both the United States and allied nations. Unidentified drones were seen operating near a US air base in Germany in early December 2024. In November 2024, unexplained drone operations were reported on four US military bases in the United Kingdom, and a Chinese national was arrested for flying a drone Above the Vandenberg Space Force. Base in California. Several drones have reportedly been observed near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia over the past year. In fact, the US-Canadian Joint Aerospace Defense Command in North America officially reported in October 2024 that there had been about 600 unauthorized drone incursions over US military sites since 2022. Despite sightings of defense installations over the past year The ongoing events in the East Coast may not pose a threat to public safety and security, but may pose a threat in the future.
What the series of unexplained sightings shows is that the United States has an incomplete picture of drone activity in American airspace, primarily due to the inadequacy of traditional radar for tracking small, low-flying drones. Significant investments in radar infrastructure and federal efforts, including the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to monitor aircraft traffic beginning in the 1950s, laid the foundation for the nation's air traffic control system that today provides officials with a comprehensive, real-time ability to Conventional manned aircraft control. Operating throughout the country. Investments in drone surveillance technologies will be needed at a national level to provide the same capabilities for drone tracking – remote identification is not sufficient as an uncooperative or hostile drone operator can simply disrupt the broadcast. What these sightings also show is that officials are reluctant to take action to disable drones whose operators and purposes remain a mystery. In times of war or crisis, such hesitation could lead to casualties and damage to critical infrastructure, possibly under attack by enemy drones. Civilian and military officials should respond to this urgent call to improve and accelerate their capabilities to identify, track, and respond to drone threats over American soil.
Clayton Swope is deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Division at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.
