unmanned aircraft system impact on critical...

A white paper on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Present and Future Impact on Critical Infrastructure

R. George Rey Sr. President COTS Technology, LLC

Unmanned Aircraft System

Impact on critical infrastructure



The UAS

For the Public Good vis-à-vis Against the Public Good The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) sales to the lay public are exponentially expanding

at a torrid rate. Today there is little difference between those used by individuals engaged in

commercial activities recently authorized by the FAA under their Exemption Request Section

333 or those that fly the UAS for their leisure past time. Recently, in Early March of this

year, an individual flew his UAS near the approach runway of the Kuala Lumpur’s

International Airport (KLIA) filming an air Asia Airline landing. This past November, the

Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) reported 25 episodes of near-collisions or other encounters

considered dangerous due to UAS. To try an address these safety issues the FAA is

developing new rules and regulations mainly focused on the safety of flying a UAS in the

National Air Space (NAS). They are to prevent an aircraft mishap or the worse case scenario

a crash of a commercial airline.

Secondary to this first concern is that of privacy of the public and ensuring that your neighbor

is not spying on you when in your yard or even in your house or violating your fourth

amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizures. 35 states have passed, or in the

process of passing, laws across the spectrum that try to address the public’s concern about the

use of UAS. Here is Louisiana the state legislature enacted HB1029 creating the crime of

unlawful use of an unmanned aircraft system. The new law defines the unlawful use of an

unmanned aircraft system as the intentional use of a UAS to conduct surveillance of a

targeted facility without the owner’s prior written consent. The crime is punishable by a fine

of up to 500 dollars and imprisonment for six months. A second offense can be punished by a

fine up to 1000 dollars and a one year imprisonment.

In terms of how many individuals are flying UAS on a regular basis one need to look at the

organized RC clubs. Within 250 miles of New Orleans there are over 60 clubs as listed by the

Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). By reviewing the various rosters an estimate can be

made of well over 1500 members are part of the various AMA clubs. Clearly, these members

are the most experienced UAS operators in our region. One can only guess at the number of

individuals that have purchased a UAS that can fly to the maximum allowed altitude of 400



feet and fly it up to a mile and one half away from the operator. Suffice it to say they also

number in the 2400-2500 range also located into our region. Moreover, this number is

growing every day.

All these facts taken together it is clear that when viewed in how these systems could impact

the critical infrastructure within the state one must pause and consider the current and future

requirements when protecting our strategic assets. In the first week of this month we had a

Situational Awareness (SA) report of an unknown UAS operating above a facility in the

South Western part of the state. Though this SA may prove not a harmful act it however

points up that this could just as well be a nefarious act trying to do harm to the Critical

Infrastructure.

In late January of this year in a small briefing room in Arlington, Virginia officials from the

US military, the Department of Homeland Security (HLS), and the FAA gathered for a DHS

“summit” on the potential

dangers of using hobbyist UAS

as a weapons of terror or

assassination. The conference

was open to civilians and the

HLS officials played videos of

low-cost drones firing semi-

automatic weapons, revealed

that Syrian rebels are importing

consumer-grade UAS to launch

attacks, and showed photos

from an exercise that pitted

$5,000 worth of UAS capability against a convoy of armored vehicles. (The UAS won.)



But the most striking visual aid was on an exhibit table outside the auditorium, where several

of the low-cost drones had been converted into simulated flying bombs. One quadcopter,

strapped to 3 pounds of

inert explosive, was a DJI

Phantom 2, The fastest

selling consumer UAS in

the United States. Clearly

the message was prepare

for the misuse of the UAS

as a serious threat,

whether for criminal, and

terrorist purposes, or

inadvertent or accidental

misuse that can harm or

disrupt orderly operations of our critical infrastructure facilities.

In summary, I believe that it is time for INFRAGARD’s New Orleans sub-chapter to take the

lead and begin now to anticipate how the UAS technology will be used for nefarious

purposes. Moreover, we need to develop Technology, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) that

will provide effective operational countermeasures against both terrorist and criminal

surveillance and disruptive activates against our state’s critical infrastructure.

I recommend that our sub-chapter consider establish a UAS Special Interest Group (UAS-

SIG) that will address and mitigate the threat of UAS impacting our state’s critical

infrastructure and that this SIG will cut across all 16 critical infrastructure sectors.

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