Fans who hear the whirring sound of might see it as a nuisance but law enforcement has long viewed those aircraft as a potential weapon of mass destruction.
With the about to kick off, security is heightened and there鈥檚 a zero-tolerance policy for drones over or near stadiums during the 78 matches in 11 U.S. cities.
Authorities have ratcheted up counter-drone measures used at the Super Bowl and other major events, while Congress has given law enforcement broader authority to electronically disable drones or shoot them down.
鈥淭丑别 has become a for drone technology, and if there is one threat that keeps me up at night, it is from drones,鈥� New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Taking the threat seriously
just gave state and local law enforcement the green light to take control of a threatening drone or even shoot them down if needed in December, though the first option will be to disable them electronically and land them safely. Key federal agencies already had that power.
The Federal Aviation Administration will around and over crowded stadiums for World Cup games and fan events 鈥� much like it has done for years around NFL and Major League Baseball games. Violators can face fines up to $100,000, see their drones confiscated and even face criminal charges for flying within three miles of one of the games. But those penalties likely wouldn鈥檛 deter a determined terrorist.
The FBI has spent the last seven years to deal with drones by investing in the technology needed to quickly identify drones and take control of them, and authorities have been using that already at major events. The bureau also provided counter drone technology training this year to law enforcement in all World Cup host cities that taught them how to recognize dangerous drones and respond.
The military has also developed like the ones used along the Mexican border earlier this year and other systems to shoot down drones, but the FBI is not planning to do that during the World Cup because of the dangers involved with the wreckage of a drone falling over a major city.
鈥淚f the drone is intercepted and it no longer flies, it鈥檚 going to fall. And as we say, no matter what you do, you can鈥檛 change the law of gravity,鈥� said national security expert Hal Kempfer, who estimates that he has trained more than 30,000 law enforcement officers on counter-terrorism techniques.
鈥楨verybody鈥檚 a little behind’
The government has invested heavily in systems that should allow officers to take control of suspicious drones and land them safely or jam their signals, including handing out $250 million to help states prepare to protect World Cup matches and the big public events planned this summer to honor .
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Congress at a recent hearing that federal officers have successfully dealt with drones over several recent events, including bringing down eight drones over a Formula 1 race in Miami and 12 that entered the no fly zone over the Masters golf tournament, but 鈥渆verybody’s a little behind鈥� the rapidly evolving technology.
鈥淏iggest concern I have is honestly with drones,鈥� Mullin said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say a vulnerability, but it is, it is one of the areas that we are struggling with every single day.鈥�
Drones are scary in the wrong hands
The FBI is taking a 鈥渮ero-tolerance鈥� approach to protecting the airspace around World Cup events. Devin Kowalski, an FBI assistant director in charge of the bureau鈥檚 Critical Incident Response Group, said the agency plans to treat all drones 鈥渓ike they could be a real-deal threat.鈥� Other federal agencies, including Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard, will take the lead at several stadiums while the FBI protects three of them.
鈥淲hen that drone comes into the TFR (Temporary Flight Restricted area), we鈥檙e handling it as if it鈥檚 something that could hurt people, and we鈥檙e aggressively locating its operator and conducting the logical investigation to determine the nature of the situation as well as to hold that person accountable,鈥� Kowalksi said in an interview with The Associated Press.
ATF Director Rob Cekada said in an interview that the focus now is on protecting the World Cup, but the America 250 events, World Series, Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics aren鈥檛 far behind. 鈥淭丑别n think about all the events in every communityin the country 鈥� high school and college games 鈥� that are a concern for our state and local partners. So we want to do what we can to help them as best as possible,鈥� he said.
Derek Reisfield, who is the former president of one of the companies providing counter-drone technology to the host cities, said 鈥渢his technology in the wrong hands is very scary.鈥� and there are many around the globe who want to harm America.
鈥淲e have to assume that there鈥檚 somebody in Iran who鈥檚 spending every day thinking about how they can attack the United States on our home turf,鈥� said Reisfield, who used to lead Ondas and now serves on the board of a Ukranian company called Swarmer that makes software that allows one person to control hundreds of drones.
Early detection could be key to stopping drones
Some of the technology could allow authorities to detect drones up to 25 miles out, which would provide more time to mitigate the threat, according to Matt Sloane, the co-founder of SkyfireAI. But it’s possible that someone could sneak a drone up close to a stadium and launch it from less than mile away, which would leave little time to act.
And the systems designed to jam the signal from an operator or take control of a drone might not be effective if it is preprogrammed to crash into a stadium full of fans while carrying an explosive payload or if it is controlled over a fiber optic line.
The battlefield tactic that might pose the greatest threat would be sending a swarm of multiple drones to attack at the same time. Even with the best defenses, a few drones might sneak through to the target as Iran has been able to do with large numbers of its Shaheed drones. The U.S. military has an assortment of weapons to knock drones out of the sky, but Iran has still be able to hit targets across the Middle East.
But Sloane he feels like the government is doing what it can to be ready.
鈥淭丑别 threat is real, certainly. But I do think that there鈥檚 a lot being done to prepare for it. To educate about it,鈥� said Sloane, whose company has helped protect Super Bowls in the past. 鈥淎nd then we just need to tell everybody who鈥檚 just trying to take pretty pictures 鈥楬ey this is not the time. Keep your drone in the box.鈥欌��
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.
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