The FAA announced it restricted drone flights over 22 energy infrastructure sites across New Jersey. The ban comes amid public concern about the objects that has grown to a fever pitch since the middle of November when we broke the story about a drone incursion over Picatinny Arsenal. While that story was on very limited but concerning base incursions by drones, it has since grown into an frenzy about drones invading much of New Jersey. Evidence that this is in any way the case has been elusive.
Despite the restrictions, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues “to assess there is no public safety threat relating to the reported drone sightings,” the department stated today. “In coordination with the FAA and our critical infrastructure partners who requested temporary flight restrictions over their facilities, out of an abundance of caution, the FAA has issued temporary flight restrictions over some critical infrastructure facilities in New Jersey. “
“While DHS and our federal partners continue to see no evidence of a threat, the purpose of the TFR is to discourage drone flights around these areas, as requested by the critical infrastructure partners,” DHS highlighted. “DHS and other security partners routinely request the FAA establish TFRs to restrict drone flights in areas where the drones could be unsafe or pose a security risk.”
The restrictions affect drones operating below 400 feet and last until Jan. 17. There is always the possibility that the timeline could be extended or additional communities have their airspace similarly closed.
DHS provided us a list of all the sites requesting TFRs. They are mostly over Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) facilities.
- Hope Creek Generating Station – Hancock Bridge, NJ (4/8565)
- PSE&G Athenia Switching Station – Clifton, NJ (4/8585)
- PSE&G Bayonne Switching Station – Bayonne, NJ (4/8586)
- PSE&G Burlington Switching Station – Burlington, NJ (4/8584)
- PSE&G Camden M&R – Camden, NJ (4/8570)
- PSE&G Cedar Grove Switching Station – Cedar Grove, NJ (4/8574)
- PSE&G Central Gas – Edison, NJ (4/8611)
- PSE&G Cox’s Corner – Evesham, NJ (4/8571 – not posted)
- PSE&G Gloucester Switching Station – Gloucester, NJ (4/8569)
- PSE&G Deans 500k Substation – South Brunswick (4/8566)
- PSE&G Bayway Switching Station – Elizabeth, NJ (4/8599)
- PSE&G Branchburg – Branchnurg, NJ (4/8603)
- PSE&G Harrison M&R – Harrison, NJ (4/8600)
- PSE&G Kuser Road Substation – Hamilton, NJ (4/8583)
- PSE&G Metuchen Amtrack Substation – Metuchen, NJ (4/8614)
- PSE&G Westampton M&R – Westampton, NJ (4/8612)
- Sewaren GS – Sewaren, NJ (4/8601)
- PSE&G New Freedom Switching Station – Winslow, NJ (4/8598)
- PSE&G North Brunswick – North Brunswick Township, NJ (4/8578)
- PSE&G Utility Command Center – Bridgwater, NJ (4/8616)
- PSE&G Hudson Switching Station – Jersey City, NJ (4/8602)
- PSE&G Kearny Switching Station – Kearny, NJ (4/8541)
We’ve reached out to PSE&G for comment and will update this story with any pertinent information provided.
The restrictions could have been enacted to minimize normal civilian drone activity to better detect and classify more problematic activity, and even confirm if indeed there is any at all. Also establishing aerial ‘patterns of life’ over these areas to get a better handle on what would be considered anomalous could be helpful and narrow down the types of responses required. At the same, putting these restrictions over critical energy facilities does indicate the vulnerability of them and concerns that they could be targeted, which makes sense from an adversarial perspective. We have still seen no evidence that this is any sort of an imminent possibility. Still, as we have reported on repeatedly, drones pose a danger to energy infrastructure, and nefarious and bizarre drone activity at such sites has been an ongoing issue. What appeared to be the first actual drone attack on a power facility in the U.S. happened in 2020, which raised red flags in the intelligence community.
Issued only for drones, the TFRs “do not impact manned aviation including airplanes and helicopters,” DHS pointed out. In addition, there is no blanket ban on drones, DHS explained.
“There is an established process to request a waiver to fly in these TFRs, should that be necessary,” DHS stated. The TFRs explain that drones can only be flown over these towns under the following conditions: in direct support of an actual national defense, homeland security, law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue, or disaster response mission. In addition, they can be flown if supporting events or commercial operations with a valid statement of work.
These are not the first TFRs issued in connection with the Jersey drone sightings. As we previously reported, the FAA enacted two prohibiting drone flights without prior permission over Picatinny Arsenal and the Trump National Golf Course Bedminster. The Picatinny TFR went into effect Nov. 25 and ends Dec. 26, while the one over Trump National was initiated Nov. 22 and slated to end Dec. 6, but was subsequently extended to Dec. 20.
Regardless of the TFRs, the White House has continued to downplay concerns.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told ABC News’ Good Morning America program on Wednesday there is “nothing” indicating the increase in reported drone sightings is a national security risk.
“There’s a use for drones and everything we are seeing so far is they are being used for lawful purposes,” he proffered.
The FBI has stated that out of some 5,000 sighting reports, fewer than 100 merited further investigation. Still, the hysteria over drones has grown to the point where the FBI and New Jersey State Police had to plead with the public not to shoot lasers or bullets into the sky at any object flying overhead. The warning was not hypothetical. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst officials told The War Zone that pilots of 15 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst had reported being struck by lasers from the ground since Dec. 7. One of those pilots had to seek medical treatment but was quickly released, but all aircraft involved landed safely. NJ.com was the first to report these incidents, and officials say they don’t know who fired the lasers.
All this comes as drone incursions are being reported over military bases at home and abroad.
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in southern California confirmed to The War Zone on Tuesday that it had experienced multiple such incidents over its airspace in the past several days. It joins a growing list of military installations in the United States experiencing recent drone incursions, which also includes Hill Air Force Base in Utah, which reported drone incursions on Monday. Drones have also flown over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio forcing the closure of its airspace, which we were the first to report. They also intruded on Naval Weapon Station Earle’s airspace and several unknown aircraft recently followed a Coast Guard vessel.
Last month, drones also appeared over four U.S. Air Force bases in the U.K., another story we first broke, and more recently also over Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Drone incursions over key U.S. bases and training ranges are nothing new, and The War Zone has been on the leading edge of covering this topic for years. TWZ broke the story of the major drone incursions over Langley AFB a year ago, which marked a major change in how the DoD was approaching this neglected threat. Other such incursions involving UAS have taken place off the U.S. coasts and, as well as military bases, key civilian infrastructure has also been visited by mysterious drones.
The new TFRs are another indication of how the government is trying to figure out what is going on in the skies, but the Biden administration has just a little more than a month to find the answers. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said he believes the government knows more than it is letting on and that the public should be told the nature of these objects. That is assuming there is anything to tell, beyond the military installation incursions.
In the meantime, the issue remains cloaked in social media hyperbole, poor messaging, and speculation, with panic filling the ensuing information vacuum.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com