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More Unknown Drones at Savannah River Nuclear Site – Try Some Basic Threat Awareness 

Someone is flying drones over the Savannah River Site (SRS), a Department of Energy facility outside of Augusta, GA used for nuclear material processing and storage. Concern is growing because officials still don’t know who’s behind the flights. Anonymous sources say there have been six sightings over the last month. Employees are following  See Something, Say Something procedures and public announcement systems are being used to alert them in the event of a sighting. Security personnel have gone as far as using helicopters to hunt down the unknown operators.

SRS

Savannah River Site on an Aeronautical Chart (Thick Dashed Line in Center)

These series of incidents reflect the enormous problem faced by facility security personnel in the age of the drone, especially for extra large facilities such as SRS (it covers around 300 sq. mi.). But how to can you address this problem if you are starting from nothing?

There are two things you can do

  • Field a dedicated counter-UAS (C-UAS) system  — AND/OR —
  • Increase your drone threat awareness

Threat awareness is the focus here.

Now, you may not know the person flying the drone (you can prepare for different types of people with red teaming, but that’s for another article), but you can understand the drone enough to gain valuable insight into how an adversary could use it against you. What type of drone is it? What’s the flying time? What was it doing? What are the payloads? How far will the radio link reach under a variety of circumstances? Where are the best launch and recovery sites around your facility? This information would come in the form of tailored workforce education and periodic technical intelligence from a drone specialist like AISC. And yes, it sounds technically challenging and somewhat like a science project, but it’s the new reality of threats that can nullify many of your approaches to physical security. If you don’t have a C-UAS system in place, threat awareness is about all you have in your security toolbox. If may not be foolproof, but it’s far better than operating in an information vacuum.

To illustrate its value, let’s go through an ongoing SRS-like scenario. We’ll examine what could happen when the workforce has no drone threat awareness and when they do have access to adequate education and intelligence support.

#1 – Without Drone Threat Awareness

Requirements: Nothing

An employee sees another drone over their critical infrastructure facility. They describe it as mostly white and having propellers on top that sounded like a bumblebee. It appeared to be flying slowly away from them, but they couldn’t judge the distance or the altitude. The witness lost track while briefly looking away. From additional questioning, security personnel know the drone flew in a westerly direction of the facility. But, did it turn or land? Security never asked about external payloads and the witness never brought them up. So, was it armed? The entire facility and law enforcement remains on high alert pending further investigation.

#2 – With Drone Threat Awareness

Requirements: Fundamental drone threat awareness training for all personnel. Tailored advanced training for security personnel. Technical intelligence support.

An employee sees another drone over the same facility. They describe it as a small, white quadcopter with a single, center line payload that appeared to be a camera. It was flying towards the west at an altitude of around 150 feet until it went out of sight (from techniques learned in training). Based on the witness statement, security personnel assess the drone is mostly like a [ ____ ] being used for recreation, or at most overt surveillance, but not an immediate physical threat. Their real-time estimate of the drone’s last known position, data link range and knowledge of the surrounding area gives them seven possible launch sites to investigate. A new, recreational operator is found at the second site visited by local law enforcement. The matter is referred to the FAA and revisit rates will be increased at these locations to deter future use.

Threat awareness adds value when working with a C-UAS too, so it’s not a one or the other proposition. First, good threat knowledge and great situational awareness leads to far fewer unknowns which is always good. And second, every installed C-UAS system will have inherent vulnerabilities which require some degree of risk mitigation. Having the ability to anticipate potential moves by an adversary is priceless when trying to determine which risks you can live with and which ones you need to address. And something to keep in mind: as unmanned technology evolves and proliferates, relying on unsophisticated operators and common equipment will cease to work as an effective risk mitigation strategy.

Drone threat awareness can be integrated into any existing security framework. It’s probably going to be faster and more affordable than a technology solution as well. So, we generally recommend some basic drone threat training before procuring a C-UAS system. It’s a great investment either way.

Ref:

More reports of drones over Savannah River Site

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