WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A new anti-drone defense system, including a direct energy weapon or anti-drone laser, has been installed just across from Palm Beach International Airport. WPTV's Michael Hoffman has confirmed the addition of the technology, which serves as the latest line of defense against drone warfare as threats grow in the president's backyard.
From the battlefields of Ukraine to Iran, drones have become commonplace in the theater of war. Now, military experts are explaining why this technology is necessary at civilian airports.
WATCH WPTV'S COVERAGE BELOW:
Matthew "Whiz" Buckley, a graduate of the Navy's elite Top Gun aviation school, said the device is designed to identify, scramble, and use a direct energy weapon—a laser beam invisible to the naked eye—to deal with threats before they can target the president, Mar-a-Lago, or civilian planes.
"All of those things that you're seeing are sensors, their radar and their jammers to be able to bring down any drone or counter air threat," Buckley said.
"They can use lasers to shoot drones down, and they can also use direct energy to scramble the electronics and to jam the systems to knock these drones down," Buckley said.
"I don't want to scare my fellow Americans, but I'm going to speak the truth right now, a lot of people watch that movie Miracle on the Hudson with Sully when a flock of birds took out both of his engines. Imagine what a flock of drones can do to an airliner that is taking off out of Palm Beach or landing," Buckley said.
Aviation expert Dewitt Ingram said the device is mobile and can be set up in a matter of hours. He noted that we will likely see these systems at civilian airports across the country in the coming years, and they have no effect on civilian aircraft.
"The safest place to fly in and out of is Palm Beach airport, and especially if the President said residence," Ingram said.
"It's been here all along. You just haven't seen it," Ingram said.
When asked why the public is seeing the technology now, Ingram pointed to an escalation of threats.
"Well, I think we had a situation in escalation of the threats against the president. We're at war as a nation, and this is a defensive posture that the US military does. This is what they do to protect the liberties and the freedom of the American people and defend the president," Ingram said.
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