“By all indications, [small unmanned aerial systems] will present security and safety risks to military installations and other critical infrastructure for the foreseeable future,” said NorthCom boss Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot. told Journalists at the time. “Mitigating those threats requires a dedicated effort across all federal departments and agencies, state, local, tribal and territorial communities, and Congress to build the necessary capabilities to detect, track, and address potential SUAS threats in the nation.” , coordination and legal authorities can be further developed. “
But U.S. military officials also hinted to reporters that the Pentagon may be able to bring counter-drone capabilities to home defense, which could be limited to non-kinetic “soft kills,” meaning RF and GPS signal jamming and other relatively minor. is – Like tech interception techniques trap And “String Streamers” Due to legal constraints on the US military’s ability to engage drones on US soil.
“Threats, and the need to counter these threats, are growing faster than policies and procedures [are] Can continue with in place,” as Guillot told Journalists during an anti-drone experiment. “We have a lot of work at home, it’s a great environment because it’s complicated from a regulatory perspective. It is a very civilized environment. This is not a war zone. “
Defense officials echoed that sentiment during the unveiling of the Pentagon’s new counter-drone strategy in early December.
“It’s a very different environment at home because we have a lot of hobbyist drones here that are not at risk at all, that are crowding out the environment,” said a senior US official. told reporters At that time. “At the same time, we have, from a legislative standpoint and an intelligence standpoint, absolutely right, [a] A more restrictive environment in terms of our ability to function.”
According to defense officials, the law in question, A Special section of Title 10 of the US Code, which governs the US armed forces. The section, known as 130(i), engages military authorities with respect to “the protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft.” It authorizes US forces to “take action” to defend against drones, including “measures to disrupt the control of an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, of an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.” Disabling aircraft by interfering with, or causing interference with, wire, verbal, electronic, or radio communications used to control unmanned aircraft systems. aircraft” and “to use reasonable force to disable, damage or destroy an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.”
