Article 5 — The Adversary Has Drones Too: What Hostile Aerial Threats Mean for Executive Protection

By J Damien Scott, Trusted Advisor

The same technology that enhances corporate security programs can be turned against them. Hostile drone use against corporate targets is no longer a theoretical risk. This article examines the kinetic and non-kinetic threat pathways, why hostile drones are difficult to defend against, and what this means for executive protection planning.

Kinetic and Non-Kinetic Threat Pathways

The kinetic threat pathway receives the most attention: a drone carrying an explosive or incendiary device directed at a principal or facility. This threat is real and has been demonstrated in multiple conflict environments. However, it is not the most likely threat in most corporate operating environments.

The non-kinetic threat pathways are often more likely and, in some respects, more consequential. Persistent aerial surveillance of a principal's residence, workplace, or movement patterns generates intelligence that enables more sophisticated attacks by other means. Aerial photography of a compound's interior layout and security post positions provides an adversary with information that would otherwise require significant human intelligence effort to obtain.

“The adversary's drone does not need to carry a weapon to be a weapon. Persistent surveillance is itself a form of attack.”

Why Hostile Drones Are Hard to Defend Against

The fundamental challenge of hostile drone defense is that the technology is cheap, widely available, and difficult to attribute. Detection requires investment in sensor infrastructure that most corporate sites do not have. Interdiction requires legal authority and technical capability that most private-sector actors do not possess.

What This Means for Executive Protection Planning

The overhead dimension must be incorporated into threat assessments, advance work protocols, and site security reviews. Protective procedures that reduce aerial observation value include varying arrival and departure times and routes, using covered parking and enclosed transfer areas, and designing residential and office environments to reduce overhead visibility of sensitive areas.

Executive ProtectionCounter-UASHostile dronesThreat assessment

Originally published on LinkedIn. Read it there

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