The Pentagon on Tuesday (local time) dismissed concerns over any security threats linked to a recent series of drone sightings in New Jersey, emphasizing that there is no danger to national security or public safety.
During a press briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder clarified that the drones in question are not linked to the US Department of Defence.
“The drones in New Jersey up and down…they are not DOD assets,” Ryder stated.
The sightings of drones over New Jersey and other parts of the East Coast in recent weeks had sparked worries about potential security risks. However, Ryder explained that the drones are largely “commercial drones” or ones used for “recreational or hobbyist” purposes.
He elaborated on the prevalence of drone activity in the United States, saying, “There’s over a million drones registered in the United States. And on any given day, approximately 8,500 drones are in flight. And so the vast majority of these drones are going to probably be recreational or hobbyist. They’re going to be commercial drones, used in things like architecture, engineering, 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 that’s new.”
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Ryder reassured the public that none of the drones have been identified as posing any risks to national security or public safety. He added that if a drone were to present a threat, appropriate measures would be taken.
“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 it presented a national security or public safety risk over civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast,” he said.
Ryder also noted that there is no issue with flying commercial drones as long as they 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,” he explained.
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