Tech | July 17, 2017 5:00 am

U.S. Air Force Seeks Authorization to Shoot Down Civilian Drones

The aerial nuisances are interfering with military flight operations.

A drone is flown for recreational purposes as an airplane passes nearby in the sky above Old Bethpage, New York on September 5, 2015. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Diana Crandall

When it comes to combatting civilian drones, the military is relatively defenseless, according to Popular Mechanics. The report comes after the General James Holmes, head of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command, described two recent incidents in which an F-22 Raptor coming in to land nearly hit a small commercial drone. That same week, a civilian drone was reportedly seen flying over the base perimeter before disappearing.

Although it’s illegal to fly drones over air bases, actually taking action against them is a federal matter. And it’s not just espionage that military leaders are concerned about. There’s also a concern of a terrorist or state-sponsored drone swarm attack that could cripple an air base.

“Imagine a world where somebody flies a couple hundred of those, and flies one down the intake of one of my F-22s with just a small weapon,” Holmes reportedly said at a recent Capitol Hill event. “I need the authorities to deal with that.”