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Two years ago A Chinese balloon the size of three school buses soared 60,000 feet in the air and soared across the continental US for seven days. It passed over sensitive security areas, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, which houses stockpiles of missiles and nuclear defense infrastructure. Only after it was shot down did we learn that this “civilian research airship,” which President Biden claimed was “not a major security breach,” was communicating with China through a U.S. internet provider and was equipped with thousands of pounds of equipment, including a ‘enormous surveillance load.”
You would think that the President of the United States and our country’s federal law enforcement agencies would have learned a lesson from this blatant security breach, but dozens mysterious drones have been spotted in recent weeks in the skies over New Jersey and New York City, suspiciously close to the Picatinny Arsenal military base, the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and the Verrazzano Bridge in my district, which supports the US Army Garrison Fort Hamilton and the US Coast Guard Island connects New York Station, the largest of its kind on the East Coast.
The US Military Research Center denies that NJ drones are theirs
The sheer size of these aircraft tells us that they are not commercially available drones; some have been described as 4.5 meters long, “unusually large” or comparable to the size of a car. The drones are so big and considering that a medical helicopter in New Jersey failed to pick up a seriously injured accident victim.
Despite requests for briefings from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporary drone flight restrictions Until the origins of these devices can be identified, our federal agencies charged with protecting us have no idea where these drones are coming from or who may be operating them.
At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing this week, I asked FBI officials whether these drones could possibly be ours, since there are federal programs that test unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), such as the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders ( System assessment and validation for emergency responders). SAVER) program that supports emergency response organizations by providing reviews of commercially available equipment, including drones, to assist with purchasing decisions. SAVER’s recommendations expand law enforcement’s capabilities in dealing with complex threats, detecting hazardous materials and protecting public safety.
The response was: “I don’t know if that’s the case, and I couldn’t really comment on that.”
This would be the best-case scenario, as New Jersey has taken an active role in increasing the visibility of UAS technology. The SAVER program has been working to integrate drones into their public safety applications, such as search and rescue, disaster response and damage assessments, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology has also participated in a first-of-its-kind ship-to-shore project. drone delivery to demonstrate the ability of UAS to provide life-saving assistance to victims of a disaster, such as a hurricane or a system-wide failure of electrical or communications infrastructure. The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) also tested UAS platforms in New York City to gain more knowledge about how these devices can overcome urban challenges such as high-rise buildings, dense population density and diverse environmental conditions.
However, the NYPD and our local military bases are also unaware that these tests are taking place.
During the hearing, the FBI said these drones can range from “advanced state actors/adversaries” that want to hurt us, all the way to “counterterrorism cases” to just a “nuisance drone” that could cause harm, but they “don’t” . I don’t know the answer yet” to our questions.
At the same hearing, my colleague, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, suggested we just shoot one out of the sky to find out. In his district, an officer with the Ocean County Sherriff’s Office witnessed 50 drones emerging from the water.
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The safety and security of the American people must always be our top priority, and we need to know if these devices pose a threat to our homeland. While drones can be a great tool for our law enforcement agencies, uncontrolled and unidentified flights near sensitive locations require immediate action and close coordination among our federal agencies. The fact that the current government and its agencies have neither intercepted these objects nor acted with urgency is shocking, worrying and unacceptable.
Anything less than real answers and a plan of action leaves us vulnerable to threats we cannot ignore.
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