Drones pose a massive domestic national security threat — is the US ready?

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or flying drones, are ubiquitous today. Their ability to quickly and stealthily reach difficult-to-access areas has also made them an effective tool to circumvent security detection. The global landscape has demonstrated how drones have become an efficient weapon of warfare.  

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has morphed into a war of drones, with both sides using them to monitor targets behind enemy lines and launch kinetic weapons. Given that drones are significantly less expensive than airplanes, they have become a preferred vehicle for inflicting damage. 

Israel also used drones in Gaza for surveillance and to deliver kinetic strikes in their efforts to eliminate Hamas. 

Iran is using one-way drones to deliver warheads to inflict damage to U.S. military bases in the Gulf region. Much like a David versus Goliath scenario, drones are metaphorically the slingshots delivering stones, hoping to fell the Philistine warrior that is the United States. 

Drone defenses are very limited, even when they appear effective. If Iran launches a swarm of 100 drones into an area, and U.S. and Israeli defenses can intercept any one of them with 98 percent probability — which is likely much too high — then there is an 86 percent chance that at least one of the drones will not be intercepted and will inflict damage on its target. These odds give Iran significant advantages to keep U.S. and Israeli forces on edge.

What has become clear is hybrid warfare that includes drones offers significant potential to disrupt and inflict damage, with minimal risk to the aggressor.  

This invites the question: Are drones a domestic national security threat, and how should the associated risks be managed? 

The national airspace is a complex system, overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration, with security managed by........

© The Hill