'We Can Drop And Destroy Them': Dale Strong Advocates For Drones To Target Drug Cartels

2 days ago

During a Tuesday House Homeland Security Committee hearing about using unmanned aircraft systems for DHS, Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL) advocated for the use of drones and AI to target drug cartels who bring fentanyl over the border.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00I now recognize Chairman Strong for five minutes.

00:05To effectively counter emerging threats,

00:08it's important to understand enemy capabilities

00:10and the technologies that are evolving in this space.

00:13Dr. Ledbetter, I know CULSA designs

00:16and produces swarming threat

00:18representative drones for the Army,

00:20but can this technology be used for other purposes?

00:24Absolutely.

00:26We've used swarming drones to create asymmetry

00:30on the battlefield that can be used

00:32in a positive manner as well for a couple of things.

00:36One, we use multiple transmission methods

00:41that creates resiliency.

00:43And when communications go down

00:46in a humanitarian assistance disaster recovery

00:50type situation, that can provide resilience

00:52in communications.

00:53So that's one aspect that can be used.

00:56The second aspect could be coverage.

01:01So with swarms, you're just gonna get more coverage

01:03instead of just one drone.

01:06You mentioned in one of the opening statements

01:10about MQ-9, it's one drone.

01:12It's a very powerful, powerful drone.

01:14However, we can provide a swarm up to 100

01:17from a single laptop.

01:18That can provide more coverage with more sensors.

01:22That can do a lot of, essentially 100 different missions.

01:25So yes, it could absolutely be repurposed.

01:27While we're on the topic of drone technology,

01:29we also hear a lot about technological advancement

01:33in drones as they relate to AI decision making.

01:37Dr. Ledbetter, what role do you see

01:39for these technologies within the DHS

01:42and first responder mission spaces?

01:45What advancements are likely on the horizon?

01:49Well, so we'll start with just AI.

01:53You know, we use that term a lot.

01:55Drone to drone communication using large language models

01:59to incorporate artificial intelligence,

02:01machine learning into the swarms helps them automate

02:06not only their flight path, but automate response.

02:09We've heard about drone in a box

02:12where you have drones pre-positioned

02:14and without anybody actually controlling the drone,

02:17you can use AI to respond to some incident

02:20or a variety of incidents,

02:23whether it be a lost person at night

02:26or whether it be an accident on the interstate.

02:29Everyone here understands the essential role

02:31that colleges, universities,

02:33and other academic institutions play

02:35in supporting the research, testing,

02:38and evaluation of new and emerging technologies.

02:41Mr. Hendricks, your program

02:43at the University of Alabama in Huntsville

02:45has advanced both government and industry use

02:48of aerospace and autonomous engineering solutions.

02:52Could you expand on the value

02:53that UAH and other academic institutions offer

02:57that differ from industry

02:59and why this is advantageous to DHS?

03:03Yes, sir, thank you for the question, Chairman Strong.

03:05We appreciate that.

03:06So part of the research that we're doing in autonomy

03:08includes looking at advanced algorithms

03:11and development relative to artificial intelligence

03:13or machine learning,

03:14looking at things that's known as leader-follower

03:16or multi-application operations.

03:19We have the ability to operate

03:21in close proximity to the university

03:22and also in the university to test out

03:25those certain kinds of paradigms.

03:27It gives us the ability to look at those algorithms

03:30and refine those developments

03:32in a more of a research standpoint

03:34so that we can come up with a solution

03:35that organizations like CULSA could develop and then produce.

03:39One of the things that we were able to recently do

03:41for the DOD side is customer brought to us

03:44very specialized requirement.

03:46I need you to build a capability to do X, Y, Z.

03:49I need you to have it built in a modular sense

03:51and can you do it in six months?

03:52And we did.

03:53We developed that and now it's ready for production.

03:55Very impressive.

03:57Given the increasing importance of UAS

03:59and rapid response scenarios,

04:01it raises an important question

04:02about how our regulations and processes

04:06are evolving to keep pace.

04:08Mr. Hendricks, in your opinion,

04:09with the increased use and capability of drones,

04:13are there any UAS regulations or processes

04:17that need to be adjusted?

04:18Yes, sir, absolutely.

04:20If you look at the counter UAS side, for example,

04:22we deal with it, and I mentioned these in the testimony,

04:25the different types of regulations that need to be adjusted

04:28to allow us to do a full set of testing

04:30in the counter UAS area,

04:31whether it also be detection or mitigation.

04:35And we're working with DHS on that,

04:38but we have been unable to,

04:39because of regulation, be able to do full testing.

04:42Again, we test and we need to be able to test as we operate.

04:45And those partnerships are very valuable.

04:47Yes, sir.

04:48In the previous administration,

04:49for every drone flown by Border Patrol,

04:53the Mexican cartel flew 17,

04:55many times entering U.S. airspace

04:58to land and offload pounds of fentanyl

05:02in an attempt to kill a generation of Americans.

05:06What is most interesting, in Huntsville, Alabama,

05:09we have the proven technology

05:11to neutralize that drone threat.

05:14We can intercept and do forensics,

05:16we can block their flight,

05:18or we can drop and destroy them.

05:21Our time is now.

05:23I thank each of you for being here today.

05:25Your information is very valuable.

05:27And again, thank you each for being here.

'We Can Drop And Destroy Them': Dale Strong Advocates For Drones To Target Drug Cartels

Category

Transcript

Recommended