The recent unexplained drone sightings in New Jersey and previous incidents at an Air Force base in Virginia have pulled back the curtain on America’s vulnerability to swarms of commercial and recreational drones. It’s not a question of if, but rather when, terrorists will exploit that weakness with attacks. The follow-up question is what weapons the terrorists might equip their drones with. Will it be explosives? Electronic warfare weapons? Or perhaps even radiological or biological contaminants?

Unfortunately, these recent incidents show that our security officials, from the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI down to the local sheriff, are clearly incapable of stopping a wave of terrorist-controlled drones.

Unexplained drone swarms are not new.

In October 2023, between four and five drones flew in restricted airspace over the Department of Energy’s National Security Site in the Nevada desert. They appeared repeatedly over a three-day period. The site is part of the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons complex. At the time, it lacked both drone detection systems and drone defense weapons, deficiencies that have reportedly been rectified.

In December 2023, sensitive U.S. military installations in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, were overflown for 17 nights by drone swarms. Langley Air Force Base, home to F-22 Raptor squadrons, was one target. Naval Station Norfolk, the largest Navy port in the world, was another. The FBI, DHS, the Pentagon, and the White House were involved in the effort to identify the drones. Some were more than 20 feet long and flew up to 100 mph, while others were small,........

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