Five US departments sign deal on FAA safety review of counter-drone systems
Five US federal departments announced on November 9 a memorandum of understanding that sets a shared process for testing and deploying counter-drone technology while protecting civilian aviation. Transportation, War (Defense), Homeland Security, Energy and Justice all signed on.
A White House body, the Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty, drove the effort, according to the sources. Under the agreement, participating agencies will work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Communications Commission on technical requirements, testing and data sharing for systems that detect, track, stop or take control of drones.
The FAA will assess safety risks of proposed systems and, according to the announcement as quoted by DefenseScoop, can recommend ways to reduce risk. If it judges more mitigation necessary, it can apply its own protective measures, including airspace restrictions.
“The safety of our National Airspace System is the Federal Aviation Administration’s top priority.”
DRONELIFE, citing Reuters, reported that FAA official Liam McKenna said the agency has already signed off on more than 1,000 coordination requests for counter-drone work involving the Pentagon and DHS. For some systems that have been evaluated before, a review could be completed in a single day, the report said.
The agreement follows incidents in Texas this year. According to DRONELIFE, the FAA briefly stopped flights at El Paso International Airport in February after a laser counter-drone system was used before the agency had completed its safety review. A later incident involving a military laser and a Customs and Border Protection drone led to wider flight restrictions near Fort Hancock, Texas, per Reuters.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in the announcement that the department has shown on the southern border that next-generation defenses, high-energy lasers among them, can be fielded quickly and safely next to civilian flights. DroneXL noted that the FAA's finding of no increased risk from the lasers came on April 10, after the February closures.
The agencies did not publish the text of the memorandum, and a Pentagon spokesperson told DefenseScoop the department had nothing to add beyond the release. DRONELIFE reported that the agreement provides no new funding, does not expand legal authorities and does not remove aviation safety requirements. It also sets no timetable for new deployments.
