美国的安全以及航空高级官员星期三警告说，非军用无人机在美国的高速增长正逐渐对国家安全构成威胁。他们要求国会通过立法，允许执法人员对无人机进行瞄准锁定并可以击落可疑的无人机。
美国的休闲和商用无人机近年来增长迅猛，目前美国有100多万架无人机。但是美国联邦调查局、国土安全部和联邦航空管理局的官员在参议院国土安全和政府事务委员会的听证会上说，犯罪分子和恐怖分子也越来越多地使用无人机技术来进行不可告人的活动。
近年来，伊斯兰国组织和其它恐怖组织使用廉价的商用无人机进行侦查和发动攻击。美国官员说，犯罪团伙在美国和墨西哥的边境地区使用无人机运送毒品，以及向监狱运送违禁品。
但是，无人机即使被用于犯罪活动，执法官员也没有法律授权将其击落，因为无人机目前被定义为飞机，而根据美国联邦法律，损坏或摧毁飞机或影响飞机操作都是犯罪行为。
美国国防部和能源部已经得到法律授权，可以在可疑无人机飞越军事设施或核设施的时候将其击落。拟议中的法律修订包括将法律授权扩大到司法部和国土安全部。
The proliferation of nonmilitary drones in the United States poses a growing national security threat, top U.S. security and aviation officials warned on Wednesday as they pressed Congress to pass legislation that would allow agents to target and potentially take down suspicious drones.
While the recreational and commercial use of drones has skyrocketed in recent years — there are now more than 1 million unmanned aircraft in the U.S. — criminals and terrorist increasingly use the technology for nefarious purposes, according to officials from the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Aviation Administration who testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
In recent years, Islamic State and other terrorist groups have used cheap commercial drones to conduct reconnaissance and launch attacks. Officials said criminal gangs have used unmanned aircraft to traffic drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border and fly contraband into prisons.
But law enforcement agencies lack the legal authority to target drones even if they’re involved in criminal activity. That is because drones are currently designated as aircraft for the purposes of federal law. Current U.S. laws make it a crime to damage or destroy an aircraft or otherwise interfere with its operations.
The U.S. departments of Defense and Energy already have the authority to target suspicious drones that fly over military and nuclear facilities. The proposed legislation would extend that authority to the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.