Drone at White House: Counterdrone options needed

Media reports indicate that a drone was found on the grounds of the White House during overnight hours heading into Monday. Although details about the drone — nd if known, its operator — have yet to be disclosed as of Monday morning, this development further highlights the homeland security challenges that drones could present as they continue to take to American skies.

This story comes on the heels of reporting that a drug-smuggling drone carrying more than 6 pounds of crystal meth crashed on the U.S.-Mexico border last week. At the same time, France has witnessed several flights of drones over its nuclear power plants over the past several months, and authorities there have yet to identify who is responsible. In New York, the NYPD is already concerned about the city’s vulnerabilities to drones that could be used for terrorist attacks. Even if unarmed, drones can provide surveillance capabilities to criminals and terrorists that could make their operations that much more effective, and deadlier.

Like many technologies, drones can be used for good as well as for harm. Banning or unduly restricting the use of drones without regard to their capacity to enhance public safety and homeland security would be a mistake. Drones can already provide benefits for assisting first responders and have real potential for tracking the spread of lethal viruses. Private-sector actors who own or operate sensitive sites like chemical facilities or disbursed critical infrastructure like pipelines, could also use these platforms to enhance surveillance over these assets, and alert authorities to any suspicious or harmful activity near their perimeter.

The more prudent approach would be to take a page from our military, which for some time has recognized that adversary nations and non-state actors are getting their hands on drone technology — technology that, even at a rudimentary level not remotely close to the sophistication of American drones, could still threaten our forces. In light of that reality, our armed forces are actively exploring counter-drone technologies — the Navy has announced that its Laser Weapon System, tested aboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf over the summer, is ready to defend ships against drones and other threats, while the Army has issued a research proposal for a weapon to counter adversary “swarms” of multiple drones, including possibly through radio frequency jamming.

Technologies deployed to protect our military overseas from drones may or may not be appropriate for protecting American domestic targets from them. What’s clear, though, is that drones are taking to American skies, and not everyone is waiting until the Federal Aviation Administration issues its long-stalled rules governing their use – you can bet that will be especially true of the bad guys. Counter-drone strategy urgently needs to be integrated into homeland defense.