August Pfluger Asks Drone Expert Point Blank If Operation Spiderweb Attack Could Happen In The U.S.

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) asked AeroVironment Chief Growth Officer Church Hutton about the possibility of an Operation Spiderweb-esque attack on the U.S.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for holding this. And this is a continuation of multiple

00:05hearings that we've had and have been personally concerned about this for a number of reasons. But

00:10I'll start with just a statement about the fact that the weekends and the last week's tragedies

00:19that happened in Texas, which we were involved in, had several local and state law enforcement

00:26officials reach out and say, what are we going to do? Because the Chinese-made technology

00:33is allowing them to do things like search and rescue. But obviously, we are concerned about

00:38that. And we have stated those concerns in this hearing room for at least two, maybe three or

00:43four years. So not really a question so much as a statement of like, how do we go faster? How do we

00:51get to a point where we can keep up with that technology? And then I'll go to Mr. Hutton

00:56on the conversation of Ukraine, which I've spent a lot of time studying. The iterative nature

01:05of the drones that we are seeing in that conflict is quite alarming. And I'm not sure that we're

01:13keeping up. So it's kind of in the same vein as what I mentioned about some of our law enforcement

01:19needs. But what features of these drones raise concern of similar tactics, techniques, and

01:27procedures being used here against us, whether it be critical infrastructure, military bases, or

01:32the like?

01:34You put your finger on it, Congressman. Not just the technology, but also the tactics, techniques,

01:40and procedures are iterating at an incredibly fast pace. As has been mentioned already prior

01:46to your arrival, Operation Spider's Web in Ukraine demonstrated the control of small UAS with kinetic

01:58payloads at 2,000 miles distance, indicating that you wouldn't even have to be in the United

02:06States, or even on this side of the planet, right, to be able to conduct and execute a terrorist

02:13attack against U.S. critical infrastructure. We're there.

02:18So with that statement, Mr. Feddersen, let's think about the truck, the 18-wheeler truck that

02:27the Ukrainians deployed against the Russian airplanes and fighter aircraft. Is that a possibility here?

02:34Do we have a possibility of shipping containers being in our ports that have already those types

02:41of drones that are ready to go pre-programmed?

02:45We do. It's a scenario that's been honestly discussed kind of ad nauseam in the community

02:51as to how it can happen. It can be at the ports. It can be an 18-wheeler, but it can also just be a

02:59flatbed pickup truck or any other truck that's driving around.

03:02What resources do we need that we do not have right now to both protect against some sort of

03:08critical infrastructure, military, or even civilian type attack? And what do we need to think about

03:16legislatively? And I'll open that up. We can just go down the line. We have a minute and 40 seconds.

03:19So I'll move quickly. You need a common integrated air picture. Three companies before you all make

03:25competitive products in this space. There is a supply of this capability.

03:30Who would run that air picture? Well, that would depend. Probably it would have to be

03:36delegated down to the operational users using a set of standards and certifications and validations

03:42provided for by the federal government. Mr. Walker.

03:47I think the other thing that you need to think about, sir, is the fact that it's easier to hide in

03:50a crowd. Drones in our airspace right now outnumber manned aircraft four to one. That's going to double by

03:562027. That's going to double again by 2030. So as we're talking about the ability to defend against

04:02these threats, we have to equally be thinking about how do we quickly identify those threats.

04:07And I know I sound like a broken record on that, but that's going to become much more concerning and

04:11much more of a challenge because we have to remember of those drones in the air, 99% or better of them

04:17are performing real valuable missions that are saving and protecting American lives.

04:22Mr. Frederson, and we'll have 30 seconds to put it with Mr. Robbins.

04:25Yeah, real quick on the whole concept, you know, it's integration. So we are collaborating to compete

04:31in space. We just need the policies to open up so that individuals can figure out what they need.

04:36There is no one silver bullet. So all the systems tend to talk to each other and be able to cover each

04:41other in layers. Yeah, as mentioned, the congressional rules have not been updated since 2018. Expand

04:49airspace awareness detection technology very broadly and expand the mitigation tools more narrowly with

04:55vigorous training and oversight of that program. You know, we've asked, Mr. Chairman, I've asked NORAD

05:00NORTHCOM to come and testify. And I think it's imperative that they do that because if we're going to delegate

05:08this and we're going to integrate with the state and local level with a common air picture, which I'd

05:12agree with, then they're going to play a key role. And that positive identification is absolutely key.

05:19Thanks for holding this hearing yield back.

Category

Transcript

Recommended