Next month, Team USA will be on high alert, defending its goal against formidable World Cup opponents on the field. Meanwhile, on a different front, Team Fed is equipping local authorities to tackle the looming threat of drones in the skies.
This year, the United States has allocated $250 million to combat the “nefarious and unlawful” use of drones. This effort underscores the increasing seriousness of drone threats. “Drones are a major concern now, and they are taking it very seriously,” commented Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama), who serves as a chairman on a House Appropriations subcommittee.
Echoing this sentiment, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) remarked, “It’s a significant issue. We have a lot of activities converging on New Jersey, and it’s a real challenge.”
In response to these challenges, the FBI inaugurated its National Counter-UAS Training Center in Huntsville, Alabama, this past June. The center is dedicated to educating local law enforcement on how to identify, track, and, if necessary, neutralize drones, an FBI spokesperson revealed to The Post. The training involves a comprehensive two-week course that has already prepared 60 local authorities across the 11 World Cup host locations, including those from New York and New Jersey.
In June, the FBI opened its new National Counter-UAS Training Center in Huntsville, Ala., where it teaches local law enforcement how to identify and track – as well as “mitigate” – drones, an FBI spokesperson told The Post. That includes taking them out of the sky if necessary.
The two-week course has now schooled 60 locals from each of the 11 World Cup host sites, including from New York and New Jersey.
That includes “hands-on training” and a “capstone field exercises” to build “coordinated counter-drone capability nationwide.”
They will be joined by officials from FBI field offices and the Secret Service to safeguard the tournament action that stretches 39 days.
The government has been doling out millions to protect against the rising threat. Texas just got another $3.2 million to “mitigate unauthorized or potentially dangerous drone activity” and guard crowds and critical infrastructure for matches in Dallas in Houston.
New York and New Jersey are getting $17 million in drone funds to shield MetLife Stadium – home to the July 19 final that will include performances by Madonna and Shakira –– plus fan events in the city.
Officials were cagey about revealing which specific drone-neutralizing weapons will be deployed. Commercial companies offer many options, including drone jammers, “directed energy weapons,” tech that allows the cops to override control of intruder drones, and even defensive drones that fire nets to take out enemy drones.
The feds have their eyes on the skies after Thomas Michael Crooks flew a drone for 11 minutes in Butler, Pa., before shooting and wounding Donald Trump in 2024.
A detection system used by the Secret Service was inoperable at the time, and an agent testified they got only about 30 minutes of initial training, according to a December 2024 House task force report on the assassination attempt.
Drones have also transformed the battlefield in Iran and Ukraine, allowing Iran – with feared proxy “sleeper cells” abroad – to target U.S. allies in the Gulf.
“There’s great counter drone technology that they have that we just have to make sure it gets purchased,” said House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Anthony Garbarino.
