FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia on June 24 warned that it’s “only a matter of time” before drones that can deploy explosives are used in terrorist attacks in the United States, noting that a person “in China can control a drone over New Orleans.”
“We have seen that overseas, and it’s only a matter of time before somebody brings that type of attack, that threat vector here to the United States,” Raia told Fox News in an interview.
He elaborated that he suspects that “the biggest threat right now” is drones that have “kind of the five-yard target.”
“We have seen what drones can do overseas with an explosive payload on it,” Raia said, noting that such drone attacks have “not come to the United States yet.”
But he stressed that it’s wise for the FBI to anticipate such drones from being used in attacks on U.S. soil in the future.
“I’m less concerned about a mass 9/11-style attack than a lone single person, a single attacker,” Raia said.
Raia noted that with 5G and LTE cellular networks, someone from thousands of miles away can control a drone inside the United States to potentially launch an attack.
Throughout the Russia–Ukraine war, combatants on both sides have extensively used explosive drones to attack one another. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a June 25 address that Russia has moved its air defenses around Moscow to deal with Kyiv’s drone attacks in recent days.
Iran’s military has also used explosive missile-like drones to attack U.S. military bases and other facilities in the Middle East in response to U.S. strikes, while U.S. forces, for years, have used drones such as the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper models armed with missiles to launch strikes.
Raia noted that, so far, the FBI has mainly observed that individuals flying drones across the United States appear to be hobbyists. But he called on the public to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
“Especially all these drone hobbyists out there that are flying drones for non-nefarious purposes,” he said. “They know better what somebody out of the ordinary looks like than we do.”
Amid the FIFA World Cup games and events in the United States, the FBI has so far seized about 300 drones in roughly two weeks, Raia said. Eight arrests have also been made in connection with the drone seizures, he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that it established “no drone zones” around stadiums hosting World Cup games and surrounding events, noting that the agency would be working with the FBI and other law enforcement to monitor U.S. airspace. Last week, the FBI stated that it arrested an illegal immigrant of Mexican origin who was allegedly flying a drone in airspace near an Atlanta World Cup event.
The Department of Justice and the FBI stated that arrests were made in connection with an alleged terrorist plot against the UFC Freedom 250 event held at the South Lawn of the White House earlier this month.
Court documents filed in the case said that the suspects had sought to use explosive drones and snipers to spark mass panic and kill government officials during the event, which was attended by President Donald Trump and other White House officials.
