The Pentagon on Tuesday refuted any security threats emanating from the series of drone sightings in New Jersey and said there was no threat to national security or public safety.
In a press briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder clarified that none of the drones was assets of the US Department of Defence. “The drones in New Jersey up and down…they are not DOD assets,” he said. There has been a series of drone sightings over New Jersey and other parts of the East Coast in recent weeks. This has raised concerns among many regarding any security threat. The Pentagon Press Secretary said that the cited drones are “commercial drones,” or the ones being used “recreational or hobbyist.”
He explained that around 8,500 drones are in flight in the country, and though their involvement is possible in ‘malign activity,’ it’s not the case. “There’s over a million drones registered in the United States. And on any given day, approximately 8,500 drones are in flight. So, the vast majority of these drones will probably be recreational or hobbyists. They’re going to be commercial drones used in things like architecture, engineering, and farming, or they could be used for law enforcement. Is it possible that some of those drones could be up to malign activity? It’s entirely possible, but the vast majority, that is not the case. In the case of drones flying near or over US military installations, that in and of itself, just given the volume of drone flights we see on a given day, is not something new,” he said.
Stating that no drone has been identified as presenting a national security or public safety risk, Ryder affirmed that appropriate action will be taken if the drones pose a threat. “We’ll continue to take appropriate action if and when it’s deemed that any of these drones near US military installations pose a threat. But in the meantime, again, I think it’s been very clear that we’ve not identified that any of these reported drone sightings were assessed as anomalous or that they presented a national security or public safety risk over civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast,” he said.
Ryder also said that there is no harm as long as commercial drones do not enter restricted airspace. “And as long as you’re flying it appropriately and not in restricted airspace, there’s nothing illegal about flying that drone…the assessment in terms of what these reported sightings could be in terms of a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft.”
