New Jersey lawmakers are warning that the state is facing an “Attack of the Drones” – as multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, some the size of a small car, have entered the airspace of restricted facilities Naval Weapons Station Earl. Officials have demanded actions be taken, including shooting down the drones if necessary.
The news of the latest incursion comes as federal investigators this week arrested a Chinese citizen for allegedly flying a drone and taking pictures of Vandenberg Space Force Base (SFB), California.
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was arrested on Monday at San Francisco International Airport before boarding a China-bound flight, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) announced. Zhou, who resided in the upscale Brentwood community of Los Angeles, was charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation, and violation of national defense airspace.
“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of the base’s layout, which is against the law,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “The security of our nation is of paramount importance and my office will continue to promote the safety of our nation’s military personnel and facilities.”
Zhou is accused of flying a drone over Santa Barbara County’s Vandenberg SFB on November 30, 2024, when a drone detection system tracked its movements for nearly one hour. Base security confronted him at Ocean Park, a public area next to the base, where he was found to have attempted to conceal a drone in his jacket.
A search of the UAV found that it contained several photographs of the base.
The accused made his initial appearance Tuesday in the United States District Court in San Francisco, and he remains in federal custody. It will be up to a federal magistrate judge on whether he could be granted bail, but given that he was planning to fly to China could make him a flight risk.
China’s Eyes In the Sky
“This incident is not the first or the last in a series of espionage-related moves by China,” explained geopolitical analyst Irina Tsukerman, president of Scarab Rising, Inc.
As previously reported, a drone is suspected of filming the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) when the warship was in port in Yokosuka, Japan. A video of the carrier’s flight deck was shared on social media in April, while photos were also posted online of the flattop as well as the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19), and multiple destroyers – along with much of the base’s port facilities.
U.S. Navy officials speculated at the time that a civilian drone was involved.
In June, three Chinese students were accused of employing a small drone to illegally record a video of another Nimitz-class carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) while the warship was docked at the South Korean Naval Operations Command (NOC) in the southeastern city of Busan. The panoramic view recording of CVN-71 was taken the same day that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the warship.
Drones are making it increasingly easy to gain insight into classified locations. It is just the latest efforts being employed by China’s military.
“Before there were drones, a series of spy balloons invaded U.S. air space. One of them was eventually shot down and found to contain sensitive technology that communicated intelligence to Beijing,” Tsukerman told ClearanceJobs. “It is very clear that the level of espionage efforts escalated, at least in part due to the U.S. government’s passivity in response.”
The Drones Over the New Jersey
It is unclear who is responsible for the drones now seen with almost disturbing regularity over New Jersey. But the calls to shoot them down could be an unnecessary strong reaction technology industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics told ClearanceJobs.
“This is more hysteria than anything,” Entner warned. “People fear what they don’t understand or know. There have always been bad actors and pranksters about, sometimes hard to distinguish them from each other. Regardless, this is the price of the freedom to own cheap drones and use them whenever someone wants including at night.”
Officials at Naval Weapons Station Earle have downplayed the threat.
“While no direct threats to the installation have been identified, we can confirm multiple instances of unidentified drones entering the airspace above Naval Weapons Station Earle,” Bill Addison, public affairs officer for the naval station, said in a statement to ABC News. “The base remains prepared to respond to any potential risks, leveraging robust security measures and advanced detection capabilities.”
From Balloons to Drones
It was less than two years ago that an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina. At the same time, drone technology has increased.
“No lessons were learned from the previous experiences, which signaled to China that it continues to be actively and openly involved in intelligence gathering with impunity,” said Tsukerman.
“A clear message should be sent to China that such hostile activity will not be tolerated – and that message should be accompanied with the ‘PNGing’ of senior diplomatic officials up to the level of the ambassador here,” Tsukerman continued. “Any future incidents should be met with an immediate military response.”
It may also be necessary for the U.S. to act in parallel and activate its intelligence efforts to understand China’s capabilities and the level of military threats.
“Further investigations of any Chinese nationals or others facilitating the drone activation should yield further arrests and tough public and private conversations and clear demands with red lines and political and economic consequences,” Tsukerman told ClearanceJobs, “including a potential limitation on entry of Chinese diplomats & others into the U.S – which may lead to reciprocal measures by China but at the very least will limit them from intelligence efforts inside the country.”
