As America reels from recent terror attacks, experts fear that our nation is wholly unprepared for a new kind of attacks using drones instead of traditional weaponry.

From Just the News. With New Year’s Day attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas exposing terrorism vulnerabilities anew, top security experts are warning that a lethal capability being perfected in the skies over Ukraine and the Middle East could soon be headed to the United States: explosives-dropping or gun-firing drones.

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“There has not been enough preparation proactively to prevent an incident associated with drone warfare and not even close,” retired FBI Executive Assistant Director Christopher Piehota told Just the News on Thursday. …

Piehota oversaw the FBI’s counter-drone program before he retired.

“We’re pretty far behind the defensive curve, so to speak. And unfortunately in the United States, it takes a tragedy for us to really snap out of our of our malaise and work against the threats proactively,” he warned.

Major vulnerability

Piehota’s concerns were echoed by security experts interviewed this week by Just the News in intelligence, military and law enforcement circles and specifically cited as a major vulnerability in a study prepared for the Homeland Security Department a few months ago by the security contractor Rand Corporation.

That report obtained by Just the News warned that terrorists are increasingly targeting soft targets in crowded places – known as “ST-CP”s in intelligence parlance – and that drones are likely to being employed to carry out attacks against such targets in the near future.

“Although it has generally not been observed as of this writing in late 2023, our interview data suggested a growing concern about the prospect of uncrewed aircraft systems (UASs) being used for attacks on ST-CPs,” the December 2023 report warned. …

You can read the full report here.

Rand explained why drones – which are becoming more numerous – would be attractive to strike a target in America.

“UASs can carry explosive payloads and have the ability to maneuver into secure areas without detection,” it noted. “UASs can also give the operator the ability to act anonymously and a greater chance to avoid detection and capture. The growing use of UASs in both the private sector and government operations likely means that more people will have access to these systems in the future and the expertise to operate them, making the use of UASs for attacks increasingly likely.” …

“Caught off guard”

The Office of Director of National Intelligence admitted in a 2021 report that was recently declassified that it was acutely aware of the rising danger of terrorist drones and equally frustrated by slow U.S. efforts to recognize that a technology it devised to fight terrorists might now be used to hunt Americans.

“The United States has a history of being reactionary to unforeseen or misunderstood national security threats,” the report candidly noted. “Recently, the United States was caught off guard yet again by terrorist groups’ ability to adapt their tactics on the battlefield and cause bloodshed in new and surprising ways. These groups are infringing on a battlespace long dominated by the U.S. military: the air domain.” …

You can read that report here.

The Homeland Security Department says its research and development arm is trying to create new technologies to counter terrorism from the sky but admits its efforts face an uphill race.

“The rapid increase in the availability and sophistication of UAS represents a significant challenge, as their capabilities progress faster than the ability to assess and mitigate the threat posed by nefarious small UAS,” the department said.

Experts said countering aerial attacks requires knowing how to identify good from bad drones in the skies in real-time, something the government proved last month when unexplained drone sightings in New Jersey created widespread public panic and little official explanation. …

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(Excerpt from Just the News. Photo Credit: Goh Rhy Yan on Unsplash)