Countering Malicious Drones

Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing on S. 2836, the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018: Countering Malicious Drones.

The proposed Act would grant the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security broad powers to deal with drones that are thought to pose a security risk.

The Act would allow the departments to track, take over, or take down drones.  Specifically, it grants authority to:

“(A) Detect, identify, monitor, and track the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, including by means of intercept or other access of a wire communication, an oral communication, or an electronic communication used to control the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

“(B) Warn the operator of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, including by passive or active, and direct or indirect physical, electronic, radio, and electromagnetic means.

“(C) Disrupt control of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, including by disabling the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft by intercepting, interfering, or causing interference with wire, oral, electronic, or radio communications used to control the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

“(D) Seize or exercise control of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

“(E) Seize or otherwise confiscate the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

“(F) Use reasonable force to disable, damage, or destroy the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

National Guard training center to host open-source UAV research

Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center will host a multi-agency research program designed to drive innovation and reduce costs of government unmanned vehicle technology.

The Open Source Unmanned Remote and Autonomous Vehicle Systems (OS-URAVS) program is a collaborative, public-private program to be based at Camp Shelby and administered in conjunction with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Homeland Security, Defense Acquisition University and private-sector organizations, including the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI).

John Weathersby, executive director of OSSI, said the OS-URAVS program seeks to identify common open-source technologies and practices used within various agencies’ unmanned vehicle programs. “The goal is to identify and document specific technical, economic and administrative benefits provided by open technology solutions and to share this information with government unmanned vehicle programs, commercial suppliers and open-source development communities,” he said. OSSI developed the OS-URAVS program as part of the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate's Homeland Open Security Technology (HOST) program. The DHS HOST program was launched in 2007 to identify open-source software solutions that support national cybersecurity objectives. The initial phase of the OS-URAVS program is scheduled to last one year.

Unmanned air systems boom in the U.S – Israel may benefit

 

Growing demand for unmanned air systems (UAS) for homeland security in the world and particularly in the U.S is bringing this industry to new records. Israeli companies are making efforts to benefit from the growing demand. A new study on the economic impact of the expected explosion in the US drone market in the United States concluded that the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry could create more than 70,000 new jobs with an economic effect of more than $13 billion in the first three years after the integration of UAS into the US national airspace system (NAS). (Read more)

Wary eyes shift to the skies as unmanned aircraft are tested in state

 

Unmanned aircraft are being tested in Oklahoma for possible civilian uses, such as by police departments. But testing of the state-of-the-art crafts also has raised privacy concerns. (Read more)