Rebecca Grant: “America has a drone problem, but no one is taking responsibility''

President-elect Donald Trump wants to install a steel dome missile shield over the United States.

But what about the drones flying underneath? “Mysterious drones have been sighted all over the country. Is this really happening without the government's knowledge? I don't think so! Let the people know now or shoot them down. Please!” he wrote on Friday’s Truth Social.

I couldn't agree more, but don't take your shotgun out of the closet and start looking for a box of shells. It is illegal to interfere with an aircraft in flight, whether manned or unmanned. It might be deer season where you live, but unfortunately, it's not drone season. Currently, in the United States, even the military's ability to intercept drones is restricted by law.

New Jersey lawmaker calls for limited state of emergency to combat mysterious drones

America has a drone problem. Some are actually airplanes. Some drones are legal and pose no threat to you or me. Some drug cartel flights drop off fentanyl in San Diego. Gen. Greg Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, told the Senate that more than 1,000 drones a month cross the southern border. Other drones belong to the police or military. Remember, the NYPD has 110 FAA-certified drone operators. We also expect that some of the drone sightings are related to military experiments and operations.

But there is no question that the United States is vulnerable to national security threats from drones in a way we have never seen before. Many U.S. military installations have anti-drone systems, but other parts of the country do not. A new plan to counter drones in U.S. airspace should be a top priority for President-elect Trump's incoming Cabinet at the Homeland Security, Defense, and Transportation departments and the FAA. Find a conference table at Mar-a-Lago and get leading Cabinet nominees Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth, and Sean Duffy started today.

What concerns me is the emerging pattern of sightings of multiple drones operating at low altitudes under continuous and coordinated surveillance near military bases and critical infrastructure. Of course, New Jersey has a lot of great things to offer, including the electromagnetic catapult testing infrastructure for aircraft carriers, Picatinny Arsenal, and Naval Weapons Facility Earle, which stores and loads ammunition for the Navy's Atlantic Fleet.

The sightings in New Jersey date back to November 20th, but the drone incidents began several years ago. Back in 2017, an Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet encountered a drone on the runway while landing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. Well, I can see why the Chinese would want a close-up look at the engine intake and stealth panel seals. In California, drones regularly fall within the fence of a vast Palmdale factory that makes top-secret military aircraft such as the B-21 stealth bomber. It's a stew of surveillance attempts, whether by military aircraft enthusiasts, the Chinese, or anyone else.

“I'm sure some of them are our enemies. Why wouldn't they?” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., told Breaking Defense at the Reagan Defense Forum on Dec. 7. commented on.

My four biggest concerns are:

The White House cannot be trusted. I don't think this last gasp President Biden is solving the problem. Ever since a Chinese reconnaissance balloon flew from Montana to South Carolina in 2023, Americans have realized that the skies aren't always safe.

We are a society of low trust. The lack of transparency is even worse than drones.

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America's skies are not protected from domestic threats. At the heart of the drone mystery is a deeply disturbing question. That means we are not protecting the internal airspace of our vast country. That was evident on 9/11, when it took 175 Air Force fighter jets flying across the country with aerial refueling tankers to piece together internal radar coverage and communications. Although many improvements have been made, reconnaissance balloon interception in 2023 will be labor intensive and the challenge to drones is a whole new chapter.

Sen. Blumenthal is pictured next to a photo of a drone reported in Connecticut. Blumenthal is one of the lawmakers who pushed for action against UAS.

No one is in charge. This is Northcom's job, but “at this time, Northcom has no formal role in defending against unmanned aerial vehicles,” Guyot said in March. He is “making recommendations to see if there will be an increased role in the fight against UAS.” Let me tell you, Northcom is busy defending against China and Russia in the northern Highlands and strengthening missile defenses on the west coast. The Pentagon signed a counter-UAS strategy on Dec. 2, and the fiscal year 2025 defense bill is helpful, but much of it focuses on overseas operations.

President Putin may also be involved. On Friday, German authorities confirmed drone operations near the US air base in Ramstein. In the UK, a drone was spotted over a Royal Air Force base where the US deploys F-35s and stores nuclear weapons. Villagers in Beck Row, Suffolk, had the same shocked reaction as in New Jersey. “It was really noisy and the lights were on. It looked official, to be honest,” villager Kaseem Campbell told the BBC on November 29. “I get more information from Facebook than from the base,” complained another resident. German and British officials suspect the drones may be part of an ongoing Russian espionage and disruption operation to undermine NATO support for Ukraine.

We don't want Putin's drones here. It's time for the Trump team to understand this.

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Fortunately, the United States is full of anti-drone systems. Coyote is an anti-drone rocket launched from the tube of a truck or helicopter. DroneHunter, a device that throws a net over drones weighing hundreds of pounds, is being trialled in Ukraine. A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter shot down a drone with a Hellfire missile during an exercise in Saudi Arabia this fall. Another good method is to electronically jam the drone's flight control and guidance. The list goes on, but none will function without coordinated oversight and revamped command and control authorities.

America's drone problem ultimately comes down to leadership. Big decisions will need to be made within the first few months of President Trump's new term. Because, as New Jerseyans would agree, time is running out.

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