The White House declared on Monday that drones spotted over the northeastern United States are operating “legally and lawfully.”
This statement comes amidst growing public concern and demands for transparency, fueled by President-elect Donald Trump’s call for answers regarding what he termed “an alarming mystery.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby attempted to downplay the situation, attributing the sightings to “commercial, hobbyist, or law enforcement drones, all operating legally and lawfully,” while noting that some reports may have been misidentified aircraft or even stars.
Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder held an off-camera, on-the-record press briefing on Monday and addressed the issue with a barrage of carefully worded statements, admitting that military bases have reported drone incursions but emphasizing that such incidents are not unusual.
Ryder confirmed that these drones are not of military origin, stating, “To my knowledge, there are no military operations — these are not military drones.”
Transcript of the meeting:
QUESTION: Okay. And then our favorite topic, drones. Do we have anything new on the drones or has DOD been asked to take a larger role? I realize there was a call on Saturday on this, but there are definitely questions about how is it that we don’t know more about all of this? There’s been a number of military bases where there’s been some incursions as well.
PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Yeah. So, if you guys don’t mind, I’d like to just take a minute to just kind of hover on this topic for a second. So, on the issue of reported drone sightings, I’ll just say up front that we are sensitive to the fact that there are public concerns and many questions. As Tara just mentioned, you’ve heard the White House, FBI, DHS, FAA and DOD say that we’re taking this matter very seriously.
And significant federal, state, and local resources are being devoted to looking into these reports. Countering UAS activity and law enforcement is of course actively investigating. I will tell you we are also committed to providing as much information as possible as quickly as possible on this issue.
You’ve also heard us say that we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. And now while recognizing the legitimate concerns of the public, and again emphasizing that we’re taking this seriously, I would just like to try to provide or offer some context and perspective here when it comes to drones here in the United States. And so, I’d like to just provide a loose analogy.
The Department of Defense has thousands of installations around the world. There’s also millions of legally registered automobiles on the roads around these installations. And on any given day, an unauthorized car or truck may approach one of the base gates, usually on accident. 99 percent of the time those cars are turned away without incident. But every once in a while, a vehicle may enter the installation illegally, at which point security forces respond.
And now, unless there’s a clear and present danger, and typically there is not, security forces personnel aren’t going to shoot at the vehicle as a first resort. Rather, appropriate means will be employed to mitigate access, if possible, halt the vehicle, assess the situation and work with local law enforcement authorities to appropriately deal with the situation.
Similarly, the FAA reports that there are more than 1 million drones registered with the FAA in the United States, and that more than 8,000 drones are lawfully flown in the US every single day. So, just as automobiles were a new technology once, so are drones, which can be flown for commercial use, recreational or hobbyist use, in some cases for law enforcement purposes.
The point being is that flying drones is not illegal. There are thousands of drones flown around the US on a daily basis. So, as a result, it’s not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat.
And so, the same applies to drones flown near US military installations. Some fly near or over our bases from time to time. That in and of itself is not unusual and the vast majority pose no physical threat to our forces or impact our operations. Activities that are concerning happen much less frequently, similar to the scenario I described with ground vehicles.
And if a determination is made that unauthorized drones are conducting any malign or malicious activity, commanders are authorized to take appropriate action to mitigate and counter these unmanned systems. So, to be clear, we’ll continue to do everything possible to investigate reports of concerning activity. But given how many drones are lawfully in our skies every day, we need to be careful to avoid assuming malintent or malicious behavior.
And then finally, I would just highlight also that the department has been aware of the challenges posed by unmanned aerial systems for some time, which is why we recently published the DOD strategy for countering unmanned systems. The strategy spells out how we will continue to work to improve our defenses, deepen our understanding of unmanned systems trends and threats and deliver solutions with greater speed, adaptability and scale.
QUESTION: You were ready for that one.
PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: I was ready for that one. This topic has been in the news.
QUESTION: Thank you. Thanks for that long remark. More questions on the drones though. At this point has the US fully determined that they are not military drones, none that have been reported?
PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: To my knowledge, there are no military operations that are — these are not military drones.
QUESTION: US military drones. And then if it does get to a point where it escalates, I know there’s a lot of issues with figuring out the authorities right now. Who within DOD has the authority to shoot them down? And are there already plans for that kind of scenario if it gets to a point where people are at risk?
PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: So, a couple of things. It’s also important, too, to remember that domestically, we in the DOD, understandably are limited on the kinds of capabilities that we can use when it comes to drone detection, tracing them. In other words, the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that we can employ outside the homeland aren’t capabilities that we can necessarily deploy inside the homeland. In other words, we don’t conduct intelligence on US citizens.
That said, if there is a threat, there are certain measures that we can take, some passive, some active in terms of detection. And I won’t go into details for operational security reasons, but that could include things like affecting the signal. It could include using our own drones to take down drones, or essentially redirecting them, things like that.
So, that’s one aspect both in terms of domestically but also, importantly, overseas that the counter UAS strategy is looking at. But also in this case, we will deploy as necessary both active and passive measures to defend our facilities. Let me go to Chris and then I’ll come to you, sir.
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