Aviation Security

                             

                      Emerging Threat of Drones in Airports

The aviation industry and Transportation Security Administration are currently battling the rapidly growing technology industry, both utilizing new technology to identify threats to passengers and combating next-generation technology in preventing security threats to transportation. In the United States, “there are approximately 14,400 private-use (closed to the public) and 5,000 public-use (open to the public) airports, heliports, and seaplane bases”. (Airport categories 2022) All of these fall victim to security breaches whether it be through passenger security measures or the protected airspace above and around airports. One of the most pressing emerging threats to aviation security today is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, for malicious purposes. (Pulusan, 2023) It is very likely that most of these offenses are committed by drone hobbyists flying store-bought “drones” to investigate airports, while other operators have ill intentions to utilize high-end, highly capable, commercial drones to infringe on or spectate sensitive operations of a major airport or freight hub.

While drone technology isn’t anything new, it has recently become readily available in the consumer market and today, there are over 1.1 million recreational drones registered with the FAA and currently, there are 44 states which have enacted laws addressing drones. At first, drone mitigation techniques were as simple as utilizing lasers or EMP blasts to disable unwanted drone activity. Further development was implemented where consumer drones would utilize built-in GPS to identify “no-fly” zones though it was later identified that this could easily be bypassed. Airports also began to utilize drone detection radars to scan the airspace for potential drone threats, though if a drone was detected, it was likely already a danger to the airspace or the aircraft and passengers within it. As of late, TSA has been expanding its technology and has recently expanded its technology to Detect, Track, and Identify (DTI) drone threats. DTI technology, which operates 24 hours a day, is capable of using radio frequency waves, electro-optical, radar, acoustic, and thermal imaging to identify the precise location of a UAS.

As more layers of protection are added to prevent activities, terrorist and hobbyist threats will continue to evolve and emerge through. Though current measures are effective in preventing the majority of drone threats of today, it is important that we think of what may come tomorrow. In the case of hobbyists, it is important that we educate the populace on the recreational use of drones and the legalities and repercussions if operated in restricted airspace. Equal effort should be placed into maintaining the airways in and around airports to ensure that unwanted drone activity is mitigated. Much of the attention is focused directly in or around the vicinity of the airport, I believe if further monitoring were implemented in the surrounding cities to monitor and apprehend potential threats, the drone incidents would be further diminished.  

References:

Federal Aviation Administration. (2022, December 7). Airport categories. Airport Categories | Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved April 14, 2023, from https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/categories#:~:text=There%20are%20approximately%2014%2C400%20private,%2C%20heliports%2C%20and%20seaplane%20bases.

Pulusan, R. (2023, April 9). Emerging threats to aviation security: Staying ahead of the game. LinkedIn. Retrieved April 14, 2023, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/emerging-threats-aviation-security-staying-ahead-game-romel-pulusan#:~:text=In%20response%2C%20terrorist%20groups%20began,or%20drones%2C%20for%20malicious%20purposes.

TSA begins testing drone detection technology at LAX. TSA begins testing drone detection technology at LAX | Transportation Security Administration. (2022, August 25). Retrieved April 14, 2023, from https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2022/08/25/tsa-begins-testing-drone-detection-technology-lax