FAA tests ability to detect drones

The Federal Aviation Administration is testing its ability to detect drones after concerns late last year caused by mysterious drones over parts of the East Coast.

“Do you remember the drone fiasco under the last administration from a few months ago?” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a video posted to social media. “I was living in New Jersey, and I can tell you the public was deeply worried about the lack of clear information. Communities, kids, families seeing drones flying over their homes, very concerned.”

The FAA is now conducting tests to ensure it can properly detect drones in U.S. airspace while making sure there’s no interference with aircraft navigation systems. The agency receives more than 100 drone reports near airports each month and has been testing drone detection technologies at airports over the last few years.

It is now expanding testing to off-airport locations. The new tests are taking place through April 25 in Cape May, New Jersey.

The FAA said more tests are planned this year in New Mexico, North Dakota and Mississippi.

Duffy said the tests are about government transparency, protecting national security and public safety. The FAA will operate several large drones and more than 100 commercial off-the-shelf drones during the tests.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in January the drones seen in New Jersey and elsewhere late last year were “authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.”

But, at the time, lawmakers and citizens sounded alarms over the drones that left everyone baffled.

“You’re telling me we don’t know what the hell these drones are in New Jersey are?” Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales asked an FBI official at a congressional hearing in December.

“That’s right,” Robert W. Wheeler Jr., the assistant director of the Critical Incident Response Group for the FBI, responded.

Ryan Graves, a former Navy fighter pilot and co-founder of Americans for Safe Aerospace, said the FAA drone detection tests are “a great logical next step.”

The tests might seem like a response to a narrow issue, the mystery drones, but Graves said the FAA can use these tests to make significant improvements to the systems and software the agency uses to track these flying objects.

Graves said airspace officials are going to have more drones to deal with in the years to come. The proliferation won’t just come from private hobbyists, he said.

Expect an increase of commercial drone use for hospitals, product deliveries, news gathering, reconnaissance and more, Graves said.

“So, this is absolutely critical to have the infrastructure in place to be able to manage and control that traffic safely and integrate it with our existing air traffic and approach procedures,” he said.

Graves said the change is coming quickly, whether the U.S. is ready or not.

And he warned that drones can be weaponized.

“So, our ability to understand who’s operating in this airspace isn’t just critical for navigational purposes and aviation safety purposes but national security purposes,” Graves said.

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