US has the tech to down Jersey drones—but not the policy, officials say

Counter-drone policy—not technology—is keeping U.S. agencies from responding more effectively to the reported drone sightings along the East Coast, U.S. officials said Tuesday. But that’s not stopping makers of anti-drone systems—including ones already protecting troops overseas—from showcasing their wares to protect airports and domestic infrastructure.

Agencies and various levels of government have policy “gaps and seams” that can’t be closed without Congressional action, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.

“We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS—unmanned aerial systems—legislation that has been proposed and repeatedly requested by this administration that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to help identify and counter any threat that does emerge,” Kirby  said.

Government officials have stressed that the drones reportedly sighted since mid-November pose no immediate threat, and do not appear to be part of any attack. One military official speaking on background said that if intelligence analysis had shown the aerial objects were foreign or military in nature, the military could bring sophisticated sensors and weapons to bear. In February, U.S. Northern Command dispatched an Air Force F-22 to down a Chinese spy balloon over the United States. But the FBI is in charge of the more recent incursions—suggesting that U.S. agencies suspect a domestic cause.

On Sunday, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Homeland Security department to deploy micro-Doppler radar systems, which detect drones’ minute vibrations, to identify objects too small for conventional radar to find. 

“We’re asking DHS to bring them to the New York-New Jersey area,” Schumer said. 

Meanwhile, one company that makes a directed-energy counter-drone weapon is offering to help. Epirus manufactures a solid-state, long-pulse, high-power microwave system dubbed Leonidas.

Its microwaves disrupt a drone’s internal electronic functioning, causing it to fall from the sky but remain otherwise intact for investigation. Its narrow beams keep it from affecting nearby communications or air traffic, company officials said, adding that it has performed well in Army evaluations. 

“We're sitting on systems ready to go, ready to be deployed, ready to go to New Jersey, ready to go to Langley [Air Force base in Virginia], ready to go to any of these airfields and shoot down whatever is going overhead,” Epirus CEO Andy Lowery said Wednesday.

But Lowery said he would be shocked if the U.S. government deployed Leonidas on U.S. soil in coming days because of “how the FCC prescribes the FAA frequencies” for communications, he said. 

The FCC also prohibits the use of signal-jamming devices of the sort that operators use to stop drones. The Leonidas is not a jammer, but does use the electromagnetic spectrum. 

Lowery said the Army’s testing revealed that the system can down drones without disruptingcellular signals or the navigation and other systems of aircraft, particularly if the aircraft is at high altitude. It also can be aimed at a very specific area of the sky and de-conflicted with air traffic control or even other law-enforcement drones. 

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the military is rushing new drone defense technology to military bases in response to the frequent sightings. 

“This could include active or passive detection capabilities, plus capabilities like the system known as Drone Busters, which employs non-kinetic means to interrupt drone signals affect their ability to operate,” he said. 

But beyond base protection, Ryder said the military is highly limited in any response—again due to policy. 

“When we're here in the homeland, the authorities that the U.S. military has to detect and track these kinds of things is much different than it would be if we were in a combat zone. In other words, the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities that we can employ outside the United States are much different.”