Senior US Officials Call for Prompt Action on Unidentified Drones
Officials assert that new radar technology and enhanced powers across all levels are essential to address a perceived drone crisis in the US. Read the full article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Governor Kathy Hochul are advocating for enhanced powers concerning unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) amid growing concerns about mysterious drone sightings along the East Coast.
Reports of unidentified drones have emerged from various states, including New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, as noted in U.S. media outlets. Expressing his dissatisfaction with the lack of clarity surrounding these drones, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, representing a state with the nation’s largest city, stated on Sunday, “If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on.”
Schumer has called on the Department of Homeland Security to deploy a specific detection system developed by Robin Radar Systems. He indicated that this recently declassified technology could provide much-needed answers, and he has also urged support for a bill introduced earlier this year in the Senate. This legislation aims to empower state and local governments to employ counter-drone technologies that are currently restricted to federal use.
Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has echoed these calls for increased federal resources to address the drone situation and has put forward a separate legislative measure. This bill seeks to renew and broaden federal authority to respond to unmanned aircraft systems. In her Sunday statement, she noted that the legislation being considered in the House “will give New York and our peers the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today.”
During a Tuesday hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security, high-ranking officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice expressed their support for bolstering these powers. Robert W. Wheeler Jr., assistant director of the FBI, remarked that the agency advocates for “expanded counter-UAS authorities for state, local, tribal, and territorial partners as robustly and swiftly.”
Alejandro Mayorkas, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, has reassured the public in various interviews that the drones do not currently pose an imminent threat and seem to be of domestic origin. He stated in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, “There are thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones. Our authorities currently are limited, and they are set to expire. We need them extended and expanded.”
Jessica Kline contributed to this report for TROIB News
Reports of unidentified drones have emerged from various states, including New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, as noted in U.S. media outlets. Expressing his dissatisfaction with the lack of clarity surrounding these drones, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, representing a state with the nation’s largest city, stated on Sunday, “If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on.”
Schumer has called on the Department of Homeland Security to deploy a specific detection system developed by Robin Radar Systems. He indicated that this recently declassified technology could provide much-needed answers, and he has also urged support for a bill introduced earlier this year in the Senate. This legislation aims to empower state and local governments to employ counter-drone technologies that are currently restricted to federal use.
Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has echoed these calls for increased federal resources to address the drone situation and has put forward a separate legislative measure. This bill seeks to renew and broaden federal authority to respond to unmanned aircraft systems. In her Sunday statement, she noted that the legislation being considered in the House “will give New York and our peers the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today.”
During a Tuesday hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security, high-ranking officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice expressed their support for bolstering these powers. Robert W. Wheeler Jr., assistant director of the FBI, remarked that the agency advocates for “expanded counter-UAS authorities for state, local, tribal, and territorial partners as robustly and swiftly.”
Alejandro Mayorkas, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, has reassured the public in various interviews that the drones do not currently pose an imminent threat and seem to be of domestic origin. He stated in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, “There are thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones. Our authorities currently are limited, and they are set to expire. We need them extended and expanded.”
Jessica Kline contributed to this report for TROIB News
