Mysterious drone phenomenon concentrated in new jersey Counter-drone authorization is set to expire this week, prompting new calls from administration officials to expand powers.
The current drone countermeasures agency — authorized as part of the 2018 FAA reauthorization bill — authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to use advanced detection technology to identify, track and and intercepting drones for: Failure to comply with the law.
The 2018 measure exempts the agencies from other laws that prevent interference with aircraft and unauthorized eavesdropping. The bill was due to expire on December 20, and lawmakers had to extend it at the last minute. stopgap spending bill Funding was provided to the government this week to prevent missteps.
But government officials say a piecemeal approach at the 11th hour hurt their capabilities Dealing with drone threats.
One social media user said she filmed several drones hovering over Fairfield, Connecticut, on Thursday night. (Lucy Biggs)
"We can't budget properly and strategically plan for the future," Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's counterdrone office, told a security forum last week.
"For several years, the administration has been seeking additional powers to expand the federal government's counter-drone authorities, which themselves are very limited, and also give state and local authorities certain counter-drone authority," said a Biden administration official. "The legislation has been pending," senior officials told reporters in a conference call over the weekend. "
A Department of Homeland Security official said that while "there is no known malicious activity in New Jersey," the sightings there "highlight the gaps in our current authorities, so we will urge congress Pass our important anti-drone legislation.
The Counter-Drone Authorization, Security, and Reauthorization Act of 2024, backed by the White House, would expand the government's drone authorization, extending it through 2028 and adding new state and local drone authorization agencies.
But another bipartisan House plan would scale back the size of proposed state and local authorities and instead authorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to shoot down drones rather than just regulate their use in airspace.
But lawmakers have little time to debate disputes over which agency should get what powers before they lose them entirely, so the narrow expansion of powers that comes with the stopgap measure is expected to last only a few months.
For nearly a month, New Jersey residents have been reporting to authorities that mysterious drones, some as wide as six feet wide, have been seen hovering in the sky at night. The number of sightings ranged from 4 to 180, some of which appeared to be operating in a coordinated manner, and several unmanned aerial systems were spotted near the Army's Picatinny Arsenal and Earle Naval Weapons Station.
Law enforcement has been unable to provide an explanation for the phenomenon, but it has dispelled public belief that the drones are from foreign adversaries.
"To date, we don't have any intelligence or observations that suggest they have collusion with foreign actors or have malicious intent," a Defense Department official told reporters over the weekend. "But I would just tell you that we don't know."
Click here to get the Fox News app
"We were unable to locate or identify the operator or point of departure. We have very limited powers in terms of leaving the base," the official added.
"Our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities in the homeland are also severely restricted, in fact prohibited, and rightly so."
More unauthorized drone sightings have been recorded in recent days near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and U.S. Air Force Base Ramstein in Germany, where officials at the base closed four airspaces due to the sightings. Hour.