US Government is Going to Track and Destroy Drones, is that true?
US government is going to protect the country from drones. This is the first thought which comes to your mind after reading the title. In some ways, that is truth, but let’s gain insight into this aspect in greater detail.
There is a draft legislation according to which the government will have power to “track, hack and destroy” all unmanned aerial vehicles that may (because of some reasons) pose a threat to people.
First, this document was published in the New York Times. The administration of the US Presidents wants to give the power to the federal government to monitor and destroy any drone, which flies over the domestic soil. There is only one exception – except for drones that govern surveillance and aircraft protection.
The main reason for this decision
Right now, this is only a proposal, which is regarded to be a part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It goes to show, that still, it is not made public. At first gaze, this proposal seems to be absurd. Nevertheless, there is a valid reason why the government wants to do so. This is just another response to fears that drones became one of the main tools of terrorists. They frequently use them with the aim to carry out attacks.
There is one more side of the coin – destruction of drones is illegal under certain laws. People used to buy drones with the aim to capture personal videos for their family archive. In some countries, drones became very popular among the society. The USA is one of such countries – many citizens of this country buy drones considering these devices to be irreplaceable tools for making personal aerial footage. For that reason, there is a proposal to make some changes to this legislation, allowing the government to use countermeasure.
Several points from the legislation
Below, we publish several actions that could be taken by the government:
- The government will have the power to monitor and identify drones with the aim to evaluate whether the drone poses a threat to the security of a certain location.
- Redirect or even confiscate the drone without the prior consent.
- Use the force with the aim to disrupt or destroy the aircraft.
- Drones will be seized during the above operations.
It stands to mention that this proposal isn’t surprising because there is the information that terrorists really use drones with the aim to attack territories. Nevertheless, this proposal became the main concern in the drone industry. Lots of consumer drones may be destroyed because of the suspicion of the government.
The answer of the Commercial Drone Alliance to this legislation
The Commercial Drone Alliance is a special advocacy group of the commercial industry. They prepared the answer to this legislation. They understand the decision of the government. Nevertheless, they prove that there are lots of safety and efficiency benefits of drones. For that reason, they should be integrated into the National Airspace System securely. They are going to work with the government with the aim to achieve this. Besides, the Commercial Drone Alliance is going to collaborate with the legislation and wish to arrive at a consensus regarding this issue. They will do anything to open the skies to commercial drones.