A Department of Homeland Security plan to authorize the Transportation Security Administration’s Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) to operate anti-drone technologies at U.S. airports goes against law passed by Congress last year, the top Republicans on two House Committees said last month.
“We believe this concept of operations is wholly inconsistent with, and contrary to the legislative intent of, the limited C-UAS authority provided by Congress to DHS,” Mike Rogers (Ala.), ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, and Sam Graves (Mo.), ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wrote in a Nov. 14 letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
Graves and Rogers say the DHS plan is to have FAMS use Defense Department C-UAS equipment. C-UAS refers to counter-unmanned aircraft system.
The DoD has more operational experience with technologies to detect, track, identify and defeat UAS than any other federal agency having deployed these systems for years overseas. Congress in fiscal years 2017 and 2018 also gave DoD and the Department of Energy authorities to protect certain of their domestic assets from drone threats.
Congress in Oct. 2018 also gave DHS and the Department of Justice authorities to mitigate threats from small drones when there is a threat to a “covered facility or asset,” and to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure C-UAS systems don’t present a safety hazard to the national airspace.
Graves and Rogers point out that the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which contains the C-UAS authorities granted to DHS and DoJ, “includes facilities and assets relating to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the United States Secret Service (USSS), and buildings protected by the Federal Protective Service. They also say the C-UAS authorities were only given to the Coast Guard, CBP and USSS, not TSA or FAMs.
“Beyond the clear lack of Congressional intent to authorize the TSA and FAMS to carry out this kind of C-UAS activity, DHS’s experience in operating C-UAS equipment, particularly within complicated airspace with civilian air traffic over populated areas sorely lacking,” they say, adding that FAMS has no “experience in such matters.”
TSA Statement
TSA was given the lead for the federal response to “persistent” disruptions from UAS at airports under a CONOPS worked out through an interagency process overseen by the White House National Security Council.
“The Transportation Security Administration is committed to a unified federal response to a persistent disruption of airport operations due to an unmanned aircraft system,” the agency said in a statement. “In response to the potential threat to airports by UAS, the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration drafted an interagency Concept of Operations. The CONOPS designates TSA as the lead federal agency for countering unmanned aircraft system that pose a persistent disruption of the national airspace, in close coordination with the FAA, other federal partners, the airport authority, and local law enforcement. Under the CONOPS, and pursuant to authority in the Preventing Emerging Threats Act, federal entities will only seek to mitigate a UAS in limited, emergency circumstances in order to ensure the safety and security of the national airspace.”
Before a threat is considered persistent, local authorities will assess the situation and determine if a UAS poses a threat. If so, these authorities will also be responsible for mitigating actions, which include the deployment of local law enforcement and air traffic control.
If a UAS is deemed persistent, then local authorities will ask for federal help.
DHS, FAA Evaluations
In late October, the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate and the FAA issued a Request for Information seeking vendors to participate in technology evaluations next year for detecting, tracking and identifying UAS and other small aircraft, including manned, in certain areas of the homeland.
S&T is primarily focused on helping CBP detect, track and identify these aircraft in environments along the northern U.S. border. If there is a solution of interest to the FAA to meet its requirements, which would typically be in airport environments, S&T will evaluate the counter UAS component as part of a demonstration, Tim Bennett, the program manager for Air Domain Awareness at S&T, told HSR in November in an email response to questions.
The Coast Guard, which in September deployed counter drone systems in support of the Secret Service during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, in 2020 is planning a year-long pilot of C-UAS systems to develop operational processes and capabilities for detecting and defeating drones near certain facilities and assets. The Coast Guard effort is intended to lead to a procurement for ship-mounted C-UAS.
The Coast Guard will participate with S&T in the maritime portion of the air domain awareness demonstration to “make sure they also have systems that meet their needs,” Bennett said.