Drones latest: New Jersey military base targeted by contraband-smuggling unmanned aircraft
New Jersey residents should avoid shooting down or shining lasers at suspect unmanned aircraft systems after complaints from pilots, the FBI warns
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Your support makes all the difference.A New Jersey military base says it has been targeted by contraband-smuggling drones and has put countermeasures in places to thwart incursions.
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst said that incidents relate to efforts to drop prohibited items into FCI Fort Dix federal prison, which is housed on the facility. “This year, there have been multiple drone detections, involving attempts to smuggle contraband into the federal correctional institution hosted on our base,” a base spokesperson told The War Zone.
Unmanned aircraft systems have previously smuggled cellphones, drugs and tobacco, and weight loss supplements amongst other items, according to the report.
It comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested on Wednesday that the Biden administration had brushed off concerns about the drones while providing no information as to their purpose. “This is why we need Donald J. Trump back in the White House, to bring a steady hand to the wheel and a strong commander-in-chief. He would have already had the answers,” he said during an episode of Fox and Friends.
GOP Representative Carlos Giménez of Florida told NewsNation he is most concerned that the government “hasn’t the faintest idea what’s going on with these drones” which, he claimed, “pose a threat.
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Vermont resident says drones have family on the edge
A Vermot man says reports of drones around the eastern US have his family on the edge.
“What’s it all about? It’s mindboggling,” Travis Paquet, of East Montpelier, asked WCAX.
“We were coming home and seeing multiple lights flashing in the sky that was just not normal for East Montpelier, and we don’t ever see it. It’s cool to look up there and see that stuff but if you don’t know what it is and why it’s there, it can be disheartening for sure,” he said.
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Pentagon employing passive and active sensors to detect drone activity over military installations
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder was asked Tuesday what visual or sensor data similarities had been seen in drones over US military installations.
“I’m not going to have any information to provide in terms of sensor data, other than, again, as I highlighted earlier, we are employing a variety of both passive and active sensors in order to detect, as it pertains to DOD installations,” said Ryder. “And of course, we’re not the only ones in this business when it comes to US civil airspace.”
“I’d certainly refer you to DHS and FAA on that front,” he added.
San Diego drone sighting prompts investigation: Report
Authorities in the Southern California city of San Diego reportedly tracked down a large drone that was flying near the downtown area early Tuesday.
Officers responded to reports of the drone as it moved between the city and the resort city of Coronado, according to KGTV.
It circled the area for at least an hour before police lost track of it.
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