Transportation Security Administration C-UAS Program Briefing 2021

TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Program Briefing July 2021 WARNING: This document is FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO). It contains information that may be exempt from public release under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). It is to be controlled, stored, handled, transmitted, distributed, and disposed of in accordance with DHS policy relating to FOUO information and is not to be released to the public or other personnel who do not have a valid need-to-know without prior approval of an authorized DHS official

Agenda 1. Strategic Environment/UAS Roadmap 2. Core 30 CONOPS 3. Contingency/Response Planning Efforts 4. Technology Testing & Selection Efforts 2

Strategic Environment As UAS proliferate and their capabilities evolve, TSA has seen 157% increase in UAS activity near airports since 2020. Between January 1 and May 9, 2021, 540 UAS events were reported to TSA s Transportation Security Operations Center (TSOC). Of the 540 events, 440 occurred near an airport, 198 occurred near a Core 30 airport, and 15 caused an aircraft to take evasive action. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT To address the increasing and evolving UAS threat, TSA continues to engage with Departmental, interagency, and external stakeholders to help guide the agency s UAS and C-UAS efforts and advance TSA s mission. C-UAS Executive Steering Group Guides the Department s C-UAS enterprise efforts DHS is finalizing a report to Congress regarding authorities needed to protect airports and critical infrastructure. The report is currently with interagency partners for review/clearance following OMB s recent review. TSA UAS Roadmap & UAS Implementation Plan Overview of short-term, medium-term, long-term approaches to developing C-UAS capabilities TSA is finalizing the TSA UAS Roadmap and accompanying roll-out materials, including one-pagers focused on priority topics, such as UAS cybersecurity, table top exercises (TTXs), and technology testing & evaluation (T&E). Once the UAS Roadmap is published (expected mid-2021), TSA will develop a UAS Implementation Plan outlining how the roadmap will be achieved in more detail. 3

Core 30 Concept of Operations (CONOPS) If a national-level response to a UAS threat at a Core 30 airport were required, TSA is the Lead Federal Agency to coordinate this response, as described in the Core 30 CONOPS, and could deploy a small team of trained law enforcement personnel to respond. CORE 30 CONOPS Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) (Core 30 CONOPS) Narrow in scope, the CONOPS focuses on national-level actions required to respond to a persistent disruption of National Airspace System operations caused by a UAS at one of the 30 largest domestic airports, or Core 30 airports It addresses: (1) criteria for activating a federal response; (2) how federal response activities will be carried out; (3) resumption of airport activities after a UAS incident has been mitigated; and (4) law enforcement considerations The local response, as outlined in the TRPs, is the first and most effective line of defense. The CONOPS comes into play only if the local community of interest has exhausted its own resources to successfully resolve the incident Unified National Level Response to Persistent UAS Disruption of Operations at Core 30 Airports 4

Contingency/Response Planning Efforts In driving C-UAS preparedness, TSA is working with airports on table-top exercises (TTXs) to support the airport s Tactical Response Plan (TRP) and coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to standardize information sharing procedures. EXERCISING RESPONSE PLANS Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) TSA drafted local TRPs for each airport, which outline TSA s airport-specific preparation and response measures to address both errant and malicious UAS activity at airports Tactical Response Plan (TRP) Overview All US airports regulated by the US government conduct annual TRP exercises TSA invites local stakeholders to participate, including airport authorities, local law enforcement, the FAA, and other Federal agencies All airports need to conduct their TTXs by the end of the calendar year Key takeaways from the C-UAS exercises include: Exercises strengthen local TSA management and internal/external stakeholder s ability to discuss and build consensus regarding roles and responsibilities to support a unified response to a real UAS incident at an airport TTXs provide the opportunity for all participants to become familiar with each other s parameters, flexibility and/or limitations of state and local law enforcement response to UAS TRPs must be updated to keep current with intelligence information and protect an airport from foreign and domestic threats. This ensures there is up-to-date contact information that will improve immediate response, a critical piece in mitigating the length of any potential disruption of airport operations 5

Technology Testing & Selection Efforts TSA has established the C-UAS technology test bed program to test and evaluate detection, tracking, and identification (DTI) technologies in operational environments to validate their safety and efficacy in support of TSA s role as Lead Federal Agency. TEST BED TESTING PROCESS Research and Identification Results Sharing and Refresh TSA will continuously refresh test beds with new DTI systems as technology advances. T&E TSA will continue collaborating with its interagency partners, including FAA, to identify UAS DTI systems for use at test beds. With DHS S&T and FAA, TSA will evaluate the effectiveness of DTI systems in operational environments. TSA shares testing data with stakeholders via the 20+ agency C-UAS Technology Working Group and other channels as fitting. This collaborative process will minimize redundancies and maximize interagency resources. TSA uses the Requirements & Capabilities Analysis Tool to consolidate UAS data sets, assist with interagency data sharing, and inform site selection prioritization. TEST BED PROGRAM STATUS First Test Bed: TSA has established its test bed at Miami International Airport. TSA is beginning data collection, followed by technology testing later this summer. To continue to evaluate new technology, TSA must continue FAA coordination and receive sufficient funding. Second Test Bed: TSA selected Los Angeles International Airport as its second test bed based on factors such as risk information, geographic diversity, UAS intrusions, and passenger volume. Future Test Beds: With adequate funding, TSA plans to establish additional test beds at aviation and surface transportation venues. 6

C-UAS Technology Working Group (WG) At the direction of AS2 in June 2019, TSA stood up the Interagency UAS/C-UAS Technology Integrated Project Team (IPT), to help ensure strong coordination with FAA and other agencies with related C-UAS missions. In April 2020, the UAS Security Senior Steering Group (SSG), which reports to the UAS Executive Committee, voted to transition the IPT to a C-UAS Working Group aligned to the SSG. C-UAS TECHNOLOGY WG OVERVIEW OVERVIEW 2 co-chairs - DHS/TSA and DOJ/FBI 20+ member agencies represented Working Group Member Agencies 34 interagency activities included on Testing & Evaluation calendar 158 total participants 7

Questions? 8