在乌克兰战场上使用的最先进的无人机搜索技术可能很快就会被部署来破解一个秘密大量无人驾驶的飞行物专家称，据称是在新泽西州、纽约和其他东北部城市的上空发现的。
纽约州参议员查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)和纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔(Kathy Hochul)已要求美国国土安全部(DHS)部署罗宾雷达系统，以协助调查人员查清涉嫌无人机的幕后黑手，居民、地方和州官员表示，自11月中旬以来，无人机一直在夜间飞越社区。
舒默周一在参议院发表演讲时说:“我希望看到一群像知更鸟一样的技术系统部署在纽约市都会区，所以我们需要国土安全部采取行动。”。
康涅狄格州、宾夕法尼亚州、马里兰州和俄亥俄州也有无人机目击报告。波士顿警察局周日表示，两名男子周六晚上被捕据称他们驾驶无人机“危险地接近洛根国际机场”
什么是罗宾雷达系统?
母公司位于荷兰的Robin Radar USA Inc .的总经理克里斯·布罗斯特(Kris Brost)告诉美国广播公司(ABC News)，他的公司Iris无人机探测雷达系统的开发是从其创新中发展而来的，该雷达可以探测机场附近的鸟群，以防止它们撞击飞机。
自2014年以来，该公司转向开发无人机探测技术，不仅定位官方指定的无人机无人驾驶飞机系统(UAS)由美国联邦航空管理局(FAA)——而是“对小型移动物体进行分类，无论它们是无人机、旋翼飞机、固定翼飞机，还是你只是想过滤掉它们，因为你不想看到鸟类或大型蟋蟀，”Brost说。
Brost表示，Robin雷达可以区分无人机和有人驾驶飞机，实时跟踪它们的飞行模式，并将数据传输回笔记本电脑，提供物体飞行空域的360度三维视图。
“基本上，雷达所做的是雷达从物体上反射无线电波，”布罗斯特说，并补充说，罗宾雷达也可以读取无人机的无线电频率:“有一个复杂的术语叫做‘雷达截面’，这实际上涉及到材料的构成，移动速度，高度等。”
Brost说，该雷达系统的范围约为3.1英里，可以探测到飞行高度为2至3公里的物体，大致在1至2英里之间。
Brost说，结合其他技术，雷达系统可以帮助调查人员获得无人机的远程识别。然而，Brost警告说，操作员能够修改他们的无人机以避免检测，包括移除远程id广播模块。
“即使有人试图绕过系统，我们也能检测到他们，”Brost说。“我们不会告诉你这个人从哪里飞来，但我们可以帮助你追踪他们。”
Brost说，该公司的Robin系统的另一个优势是它重量轻，可移动:“它可以安装在警察巡逻车或任何你需要的东西上，并在移动中使用。”
然而，他的公司的雷达系统不能做的一件事是确定无人机是否已经武器化。
“我们不一定要看有效载荷，”Brost说。
布罗斯特说，应新泽西州当局的要求，他的公司周五派出一个小组前往该州，评估如何最好地部署罗宾雷达，以调查大量涉嫌夜间无人机目击事件。
当被问及DHS是否联系了他的公司时，Brost只能说他正在与联邦政府合作。
美国联邦调查局和DHS已经部署了红外摄像机和无人机探测技术，以确保飞越新泽西和纽约地区的所谓无人机是无害的，根据执法部门的消息来源。美国联邦调查局最近表示，数十家机构每天都在寻找答案，追踪任何“非法或怀有邪恶意图”的运营商。
这些机构也在查看社交媒体和其他照片，以确定照片中到底有什么。据一名执法人员称，大多数照片和视频描绘的是有人驾驶的飞机。
部署在乌克兰
布罗斯特告诉美国广播公司新闻，罗宾雷达系统已经在乌克兰-俄罗斯战争中用于帮助乌克兰军队定位来袭的俄罗斯武器化无人机。
“基于我们公司的迫切需求，乌克兰战争确实是我们公司的一个转折点，当然，我们能够在这种环境下收集和实施的一些数据是非常重要的，”Brost说。“在与一些战场指挥官交谈后，我非常清楚这项技术的重要性。”
布罗斯特说，在战场上，乌克兰军队已经击落了俄罗斯无人机。
“在美国，执法部门的手非常紧张，因为他们不能使用任何东西将无人机带出天空，即使他们发现它是邪恶的或认为它是邪恶的，”布罗斯特说。
新泽西警方和纽瓦克的美国联邦调查局现场办公室周一发布了一项建议，要求公众不要将事情掌握在自己手中。在一份声明中，当局警告说有人驾驶飞机的飞行员被激光击中眼睛的数量增加，因为地面上的人们认为他们看到了无人驾驶飞机系统。还有一个担心是，人们可能会向他们认为是UAS的东西开火，但它可能是一架有人驾驶的飞机。”
“公众歇斯底里”
DHS、美国联邦调查局、美国联邦航空局和国防部周一联合发布的声明称，美国联邦调查局在过去几周收到了5000多条关于在新泽西和其他州看到无人机的线索。联邦官员称，这些提示带来了大约100条线索，但到目前为止，调查没有发现“任何异常”，无人机目击事件也没有带来国家安全或公共安全风险。
根据联合声明，对据称的无人机目击事件的评估发现，它们反映了合法商业无人机、业余爱好者无人机和执法无人机的综合目击事件，以及有人驾驶的固定翼飞机、直升机和被误报为无人机的星星。
华盛顿特区智库新美国安全中心(Center for a New American Security)国防项目主任斯黛西·佩蒂约翰(Stacie Pettyjohn)说:“我怀疑，这种情况已经成为公众歇斯底里的一种情况，这主要是因为政府没有明确解释最初发生了什么，也没有区别对待，没有公开和了解事情的真相。”
Brost说，他已经检查了在新泽西州上空发现的无人机图像。
“我看过一些照片，我说，‘伙计，那看起来像是一架飞机。’”布罗斯特说但是我看过一些非常吸引人的视频，关于一些看起来无法解释的东西。"
High-tech radar used in Ukraine-Russia war to be deployed to crack Northeast drone mystery
State-of-the-art drone-hunting technology being used on the battlefield in Ukraine could soon be deployed to crack the mystery behind aspate of unmanned flying objectspurportedly spotted in the skies over New Jersey, New York and other Northeast cities, experts said.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deploy the Robin Radar System to assist investigators in getting to the bottom of who is behind the alleged drones that residents and local and state officials say have been flying over communities at night since mid-November.
"I want to see a flock of Robin-like technology systems deployed across the New York city metropolitan area so we need the Department of Homeland Security to spring into action," Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor on Monday.
Drone sightings have also been reported in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio. The Boston Police Department said Sunday that two men werearrested Saturday nightafter they allegedly flew a drone "dangerously close to Logan International Airport."
What is the Robin Radar System?
Kris Brost, general director of Robin Radar USA Inc., whose parent company is in the Netherlands, told ABC News that the development of his firm's Iris drone detection radar system evolved from its innovation in creating radar to detect flocks of birds near airports to prevent them from striking aircraft.
Since 2014, the company has pivoted to developing drone-detecting technology to not only locate drones – officially designatedunmanned aircraft systems (UAS)by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – but to "classify small moving objects, whether they be drones, rotary, fixed-wing or if you just want to filter them out because you don't want to see birds or large crickets," Brost said.
Brost said the Robin radar can discern drones from manned-operated aircraft, track their flying patterns in real time and beam data back to a laptop computer with a 360-degree, 3D view of the airspace in which the object is flying.
“Basically what a radar does is a radar bounces radio waves off of objects," said Brost, adding that the Robin radar can also read a drone's radio frequency: "There’s a sophisticated term called ‘radar cross section’ and that really comes down to what is that material made of, how fast is it moving, what altitude it’s at, etc."
Brost said the radar system has a range of about 3.1 miles and can detect objects flying at an altitude of two to three kilometers, roughly between one and two miles.
When combined with other technologies, Brost said the radar system can help investigators obtain a drone'sremote identification. Brost warned, however, that operators are able to modify their drones in order to avoid detection, including removing the remote ID broadcast module.
"Even if someone is trying to skirt the system, we’ll be able to detect them," Brost said. "We won’t tell you where the person is flying from, but we’ll be able to help you track them."
Brost said another advantage of the company's Robin system is that it's lightweight and mobile: "it can be installed on a police cruiser or whatever you need to and be used on the move."
One thing his company's radar system can't do, however, is determine whether a drone has been weaponized.
"We don’t necessarily look at payload," Brost said.
Brost said that at the request of New Jersey authorities, his company sent a team to the state on Friday to assess how to best deploy the Robin radar in the investigation of the numerous alleged nighttime drone sightings.
Asked if DHS has contacted his company, Brost could only say he is working with the federal government.
The FBI and DHS have deployed infrared cameras and drone detection technology to ensure that the purported drones flying over the New Jersey and New York area aren't harmful,according to a law enforcement source. Dozens of agencies have been out daily to find answers and track down any operators acting "illegally or with nefarious intent," the FBI said recently.
The agencies are also looking at social media and other photos to determine what exactly is in the photos. Most of the photos and video depict manned aircraft, according to a law enforcement source.
Deployed in Ukraine
The Robin Radar System has been used in the Ukraine-Russia war to aid Ukrainian military forces in locating incoming Russian weaponized drones, Brost told ABC News.
"The war in the Ukraine was really a turning point for our company based on the compelling needs they have and certainly some of the data that we’ve been able to collect and implement based on that environment has been specular," Brost said. "Having talked to some of the battlefield commanders, it’s pretty compelling how important of a technology that it is."
While on the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have shot the Russian drones out of the sky, Brost said.
"Here in the states, law enforcement's hands are very tied because they can't use anything to take a drone out of the sky even if they find it's nefarious or think it's nefarious," Brost said.
The New Jersey State Police and FBI field office in Newark issued an advisory Monday asking the public not to take matters into their own hands. In a statement,authorities warnedof “an increase in pilots of manned aircraft being hit in the eyes with lasers because people on the ground think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems. There is also a concern with people possibly firing weapons at what they believe to be a UAS but could be a manned aircraft."
"Public hysteria"
The FBI has received more than 5,000 tips in the last few weeks about drone sightings in New Jersey and other states, said the statement issued jointly on Monday by DHS, the FBI, the FAA and the Department of Defense. Those tips have resulted in about 100 leads but, so far, the investigation has not found "anything anomalous," nor do the drone sightings present a national security or public safety risk, the federal officials.
An assessment of the purported drone sightings, according to the joint statement, found that they reflect combined sightings of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.
“My suspicion is this is a situation that has become one where there’s public hysteria that’s largely due to the fact that the government did not clearly explain what was going on at first and hasn’t differentiated and been as open and gotten in front of the story," said Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington D.C. think tank.
Brost said he has examined images of drones spotted flying over New Jersey.
"I have seen pictures where I’ve said, ‘Man, that looks like a dead ringer for an aircraft.'" Brost said. "But I have seen some pretty compelling videos on something that just looks unexplainable."
