American officials are on heightened alert after federal authorities warned that Iran could attempt to launch drones toward the California coast, raising concerns about how easily low-cost unmanned aircraft could threaten U.S. cities.
Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson joined FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” to discuss how emerging drone threats could be detected and destroyed if adversaries attempted to launch them toward the U.S. coastline.
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The warning comes as Iran has increasingly relied on drone technology in modern warfare, deploying both large strike drones and smaller, inexpensive models that can be launched quickly and in large numbers. Defense officials have seen similar tactics used in conflicts overseas, particularly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where swarms of relatively inexpensive drones have been used to overwhelm traditional defense systems.
Thompson said a potential offshore launch targeting California would likely be identifiable and could be intercepted quickly by U.S. defenses.
“We don’t have any details currently, but if they’re trying to launch vertical-launch mechanisms off of small boats off the coast of California, it’s going to be very easy to find and very easy to kill,” Thompson said.
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Still, he cautioned that the smallest drones present a different challenge. Because many are built using widely available commercial technology, they can move quickly and operate at low altitudes, making them harder to detect with traditional systems.
“The really small ones like FPV drones… are going to be very hard to battle because they’re just so quick,” Thompson said.
As drone warfare evolves, Thompson said future defense strategies will likely rely on large numbers of inexpensive counter-systems designed to intercept incoming aircraft before they reach their targets.
“It’s not humans anymore. It’s drone against drone,” Thompson said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that he is “not aware of any imminent threats at this time” while the state remains “prepared for any emergency.”
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