The Legal, Technical, and Practical Challenges of Countering the Commercial Drone Threat to National Security

CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) Thesis documentCommercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) drones - lso referred to as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or quadcopters - are nearly ubiquitous. In the U.S. alone, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projects the small model hobbyist UAS fleet to more than double from an estimated 1.1 million vehicles in 2017 to 2.4 million units by 2022. Given their range, photographic capability, and relatively low cost, they appeal to everyone from real estate agents to insurance claims adjusters to tech geeks to the Department of Defense (DoD) to terrorist actors. Their ubiquity and accessibility pose a growing concern to national security. Recognizing the potential impact to national security, as well as the tension between available counter-UAS (cUAS) systems and sections of title 18, U.S. Code, including the Aircraft Sabotage Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the Wiretap Act, Congress has started passing legislation designed to assist Federal agencies with mitigating the threat posed by rogue UAS (e.g., 10 U.S.C. 130i; P.L. 115-302). There is no perfect cUAS interdiction solution, but hacking - including spoofing - may the most promising solution, with the least potential for collateral damage, thereby also likely making it the most compliant with the law enforcement principle of using non-lethal incapacitating weapons that minimize the risk of endangering uninvolved people.NPS CIVINShttp://archive.org/details/thelegaltechnica1094563191E, LCDRApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited