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President-elect Donald Trump He wants to create an Iron Dome missile shield over the United States.
But what about Drones fly underneath? “Sightings of mysterious drones all over the country. Could this really be happening without our government knowing. I don't think so! Let the public know about it, now. Otherwise, shoot them!!!” Friday wrote on social truth.
I couldn't agree more, except please don't take your gun out of the closet and start looking for a box of shells. It is illegal to interfere with any aircraft in flight, whether manned or unmanned. It may be deer season where you live, but unfortunately it is never Drone season. Currently, laws even limit the military's ability to intercept drones in the United States
NJ LAWMAKER CALLS FOR LIMITED STATE OF EMERGENCY TO COMBAT MYSTERY DRONE
America has a drone problem. Some of them are actually planes. Some drones are legal and pose no threat to you or me. Some are flown in by drug cartels that deliver fentanyl in San Diego. More than 1,000 drones are crossing the southern border each month, Gen. Greg Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, told the Senate. Other police or military drones. Don't forget the NYPD has 110 drone operators Qualified by FAA. I also expect some drone sightings to be related to military experiments and operations.
A map showing some of the places where mysterious drones have been spotted in the northeastern USA in December 2024. (Fox News)
But there is no doubt that the United States is exposed to a national security threat from drones in a way we have never seen before. While many US military installations have counter-drone systems, the rest of the country does not. A new plan to counter drones in US airspace should be a top priority for President-elect Trump's next Cabinet: Homeland Security, Defense and Transportation, with the Federal Aviation Administration. Find a conference table at Mar-a-Lago and get a taste of the major Cabinet nominees Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth and Sean Duffy Started now.
What concerns me is the emerging pattern of seeing multiple drones, operating at low altitudes, with continuous and coordinated surveillance, near military bases and critical infrastructure. Of course, New Jersey has a lot of cool stuff: the aircraft carrier's electromagnetic catapult testing infrastructure, the Picatinny Arsenal, and Naval Weapons Site Earle, which stores and loads munitions for the Navy's Atlantic Fleet.
While the New Jersey sightings date back to November 20, drone incidents began years ago. In 2017, an Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter encountered a drone on the runway while landing at Langley AFB in Virginia. Yes, I can see why the Chinese would want a close-up view of the engine inlets and hidden panel seals. In California, drones regularly land inside the walls of sprawling factories in Palmdale that make top-secret military aircraft like the B-21 stealth bomber. It's just a collection of surveillance attempts – whether by military aircraft enthusiasts, the Chinese, or anyone else.
“I'm sure some of them are our opponents. Why wouldn't they be?” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., commented Break the defense At the Reagan National Defense Forum on December 7.
Here are my four biggest fears.
The White House cannot be trusted. The Biden White House does not appear to be working on the problem in its final moments. Since a Chinese spy balloon took off from Montana to South Carolina in 2023, Americans have learned that our skies are not always safe.
We are a low trust society. The lack of transparency is almost worse than drones.
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America's skies are not protected from domestic threats. At the heart of the drone conundrum is a very disturbing problem: We do not defend our vast nation's internal airspace. That was evident on September 11, when 175 Air Force fighter jets were launched across the country with their aerial refueling tankers to link each other's internal radar coverage and communications. Many improvements have been made, but intercepting the spy balloon in 2023 took effort, and the drone challenge is a whole new chapter.
Senator Blumenthal was seen next to a photo of drones reported in Connecticut. Blumenthal is among the lawmakers who have pushed for action on the unmanned aircraft system.
No one is responsible. That's NORTHCOM's mission but “at this time, NORTHCOM has no formal role in defense against UAS,” Guillot said in March. It “makes suggestions as to whether there will be an increasing role in the drone battle.” Considering that NORTHCOM is busy defending against China and Russia in the Far North and modernizing missile defense on the West Coast. The Pentagon signed off on a counter-drone strategy on Dec. 2, and the fiscal year 2025 defense bill helps, but much of that focuses on overseas operations.
Putin may be involved. German officials on Friday confirmed drone operations around the US air base in Ramstein. In Britain, drones have been seen over Royal Air Force bases, where US F-35s are based and maintain nuclear weapons storage sites. Villagers in Peak Row, Suffolk, had the same shocked reaction as in New Jersey. “They were very noisy and had lights on,” villager Qasim Campbell told the BBC on November 29. “They looked frankly official.” “You get more information from Facebook than you do from Al Qaeda,” grumbled another resident. German and British officials suspect the drones may be part of an ongoing Russian espionage and disruption campaign to weaken NATO support for Ukraine.
I don't want any of Putin's drones here. It's time for Team Trump to find out.
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Fortunately, the United States is awash in anti-drone systems. The Wolf is an anti-drone missile that is launched from a tube on a truck or helicopter. DroneHunter casts a net on drones weighing several hundred pounds, and has been trialled in Ukraine. U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters shot down drones with Hellfire missiles during an exercise in Saudi Arabia this fall. Another great way is to electronically disable your drone's flight control and direction. The list goes on, but none of them can succeed without coordinated oversight and renewed command and control authorities.
The problem with drones in America boils down to this: leadership. Big decisions need to be made during the first few months of Trump's new term. Because, as New Jersey citizens agree, time has run out.
Click here to read more from Rebecca Grant
