Sherrill Releases Drone Plan of Action to Identify Aviation Activity and Improve Communication with the Public

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), former Navy helicopter aircraft commander and member of the House Armed Services Committee, released a comprehensive plan of action to locate and track drones, or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), flying over New Jersey, increase information available to local law enforcement authorities, and improve communications with residents.

“I’m incredibly frustrated with the lack of coordination and communication from agencies as New Jerseyans continue to watch unidentified drones fly across our skies. Right now, our leaders need to be acting in accordance with a unified plan, and speaking with one voice in order to protect our national security, keep New Jerseyans safe, and ensure state and local authorities have the information and tools they need to take action. 

“That’s why, after writing to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and consulting with local leaders and subject matter experts, I am releasing a plan of action that will help meet these goals. I urge federal, state, and local leadership to use this plan in order to enact an effective, whole-of-government response to protect our state and better communicate information with the public and local authorities,” said Rep. Sherrill  

You can read Sherrill’s Drone Plan of Action here and below:

After weeks of unidentified-drone sightings over New Jersey, two things are clear: One, the drones remain unidentified and, two, the people of New Jersey need clearer, more consistent communication as to what our government is learning and doing about the drones. 

New Jerseyans' patience is getting very thin, including my own.

When this volume of unidentified aircraft conduct flights over civilian and military airspace, we need a swift, cohesive response and a streamlined, coherent line of communication to the public. We need action, we need speed, we need effectiveness. We have felt little of this to date. So, as both a congresswoman and a former Navy helicopter aircraft commander, here’s what I'm calling on government to do: 

1. Deploy Reaper drones and counter-UAS radars to locate and track: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) possesses a fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones, unmanned aircraft that have the electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) capabilities to track targets in various environments. Where appropriate, coordinating authorities should also have the use of counter-UAS radar systems that can accurately detect drones at site of launch — whether those systems are federal-, commercial-, state, or locally operated. CBP, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, would need to coordinate with non-border law enforcement to operate outside their normal area of responsibility. With that in mind, the FBI, which is currently leading the investigation into the drone incursions, should immediately and formally request the use of the required number of CBP MQ-9 Reaper drones, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, to track these UAS and identify their locations of origin. As they track the unidentified drones with the Reapers, federal partners should coordinate directly with New Jersey law enforcement agencies to respond swiftly to the drone landing locations. 
    
2. Coordinate congressional information sharing: This issue crosses multiple jurisdictions — homeland security, law enforcement, the military, and the intelligence communities, just to name a few. In turn, the issue tracks across the jurisdiction of multiple congressional committees. Congress needs a unified response, which means it needs to be operating off of a unified set of information. Today, I am calling on congressional leadership to immediately convene a classified hearing with the committees of jurisdiction — including but not limited to the Committees on Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure, Armed Services, Judiciary, and Intelligence — with leaders from the relevant federal agencies to receive a full briefing on the federal government’s response to incursions from unidentified UAS. Unclassified information from the briefing should also be promptly shared with the public.
    
3. Centralize the response: The interagency process, as it stands, isn’t meeting the moment. This is not the time for a lack of clarity over who holds responsibility, nor is it a time for intra-agency turf protection. It’s clear that there needs to be a coordinating agency that can knock heads together to hasten outcomes and streamline communication. There should be a clear process for local law enforcement to report sightings to be thoroughly reviewed by federal partners.  So I am calling for President Biden to immediately stand up an interagency Task Force to address the challenges posed by unidentified UAS incursions — to formulate a whole-of-government approach and ensure that all information that is appropriate for the public to have is shared in a timely manner. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which has deep experience in overseeing the security of U.S. airspace and a wealth of assets and expertise in this arena, is naturally suited to lead the interagency response. 
    
4. Streamline communication with the public:The lack of a unified, cohesive message from the federal government is only adding to the fear and concern that the public is feeling. Elected leaders from the congressional to municipal levels, and law enforcement agencies at the state and local levels, are receiving different information from different agencies, and lines of communication — both to report and to receive reporting — are unhelpful and unclear. Law enforcement agencies on the ground need clear guidance on how to relay the information they are receiving to federal officials with the relevant jurisdiction and clear guidance on what information can be shared with the public.In concert with the action above, I am calling for the federal government to immediately implement a clear reporting process and the means of disseminating appropriately cleared information to the public. 
    
5. Future detection and prevention: It is clear from my conversations with agency leaders that the various federal actors in this space do not have sufficient resources or authorities to respond to incursions of this kind. Congress cannot grant them those resources without knowing what they need. Therefore, I am calling on the leaders of the agencies with jurisdiction over this issue to collaborate on a report to Congress that contains a detailed request for any novel legal authorities they believe they require and any new resources, financial or otherwise, they believe they require to ensure that they are fully capable of swiftly and decisively responding to UAS incursions in the future.

 Rep. Sherrill has been on the frontlines of improving the United States' counter-UAS technologies. In 2023, she successfully passed the BLIPS Act into law, legislation to improve coordination between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense to ensure that every aircraft in American airspace is tracked and identified. After attending a briefing with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas this December, she demanded answers regarding UAS activity over New Jersey from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. 

Additionally, Sherrill fought to include provisions in the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to secure nearly $200 million to allow the Department of Defense to develop a strategy to counter threats from UAS technology and conduct a full assessment of the United States’s counter-UAS capabilities. 

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