FBI warns battlefield-style drone attacks could reach US: 'Only a matter of time'
EXCLUSIVE: It is "only a matter of time" before the type of drone attacks seen on battlefields overseas reach the United States, FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia warned in an...
By Fox News · Fox News
EXCLUSIVE: It is "only a matter of time" before the type of drone attacks seen on battlefields overseas reach the United States, FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia warned in an interview with Fox News Digital — as investigators race to prepare for rapidly evolving technology that could eventually allow operators thousands of miles away to pilot aircraft targeting Americans. "I think the biggest threat right now, kind of the five-yard target, if you will, is going to be that threat from a drone," Raia said. Federal officials increasingly have become concerned that advances in commercially available drone technology are giving individuals and small groups capabilities once associated with larger organizations, lowering the barriers to carrying out potentially devastating attacks. "I'm less concerned about a mass 9/11-style attack than I am a lone single person, a single attacker," Raia said. Raia's warning comes as federal authorities grapple with the rapid proliferation of inexpensive drone technology, lessons learned from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and an alleged domestic plot targeting the White House UFC event that prosecutors say involved plans to use explosive-laden drones. The FBI is also in the midst of securing the FIFA World Cup, one of the largest domestic security operations in recent U.S. history. REPUBLICANS RAISE ALARM OVER US VULNERABILITY TO MASS DRONE STRIKES AFTER ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT In Ukraine, relatively inexpensive drones have transformed warfare, carrying out surveillance, targeting and attack missions once reserved for sophisticated military systems. Similar tactics also have appeared in conflicts across the Middle East, where armed groups have used drones to strike military and civilian targets. Investigators are particularly focused on the next generation of drones, which could operate via 5G and LTE cellular networks rather than relying solely on short-range radio-frequency links that generally require operators to remain nearby…