Secret Service is test-flying drones on the White House lawn in the middle of the night

The Secret Service is carrying out middle-of-the-night drone flights around the White House so as to devise an appropriate defense against the unmanned aircraft should an attack ever occur.

The government-owned-and-controlled drones will be flown between 1am and 4am over the next few weeks over parts of Washington DC that are otherwise no-fly zones.

The Agency hopes to have a plan in place should they ever find themselves or the presidential quarters under the attack of hostile unmanned aircraft. 

News of the Agency’s efforts on how best to combat this new technological threat came after an official with knowledge of the Secret Service’s plans spoke with the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. 

Among the tests being conducted: signal-jamming technology for the purpose of confusing and ultimately downing remotely piloted aircraft without having to fire weapons.

While researchers at the Homeland Security Department have long been testing out methods of fighting off drones at remote sites, tests in the real-world environment around the White House have not taken place. It’s believed that these operations will help the staff tasked with better protecting the president by better understanding the local layout of the land and how it affects this modern-day form of aerial technology; specifically, things like radio waves, and how they can be impacted by objects like trees, monuments, and buildings. 

One thing the Secret Service will have to focus on in particular is the ability to not only quickly detect a drone, but react defensively as soon as possible. Within moments of discovering its location, they will need to be able to employ a system that can either hack the device’s guidance mechanism, or deploy a jamming signal that will force the drone off its course and (hopefully) crash.

And that’s only considering drones that maybe want to take pictures, or are equipped with components capable of hacking information wirelessly. There are plenty of models on the market nowadays that have enough lifting power to carry small amounts of explosives.

For now, though, the Secret Service has said they will only be testing the drones out over Washington, and declined to confirm details like when it will fly, how many will be flown, which parts of the city will be tested, for how long these tests will go on, and what purpose these tests serve. 

The Federal Aviation Administration has since confirmed it formally authorized the Secret Service to fly the drones, and also granted the Agency a waiver to fly them over Washington in the no-fly zones. 

No other specifics were given. 

Via Phys.org