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-Short Attention Span Theater-
So You Want To Fly A Drone Over A Nuclear Weapons Lab
2021-08-25
[C4IsrNet] Drone pilots beware: Authorities at one of the United States’ top nuclear weapons laboratories issued a warning Monday that airspace over Los Alamos National Laboratory is off limits.

The birthplace of the atomic bomb, Los Alamos lab reported that recent unauthorized drone flights have been detected in restricted airspace in the area.

Officials said if you fly a drone over the lab, you likely will lose it.

"We can detect and track a UAS (unmanned aircraft system), and if it poses a threat, we have the ability to disrupt control of the system, seize or exercise control, confiscate or use reasonable force to disable, damage or destroy the UAS," said Unica Viramontes, senior director of lab security.

The lab would not release any specifics about how the system works, citing security protocols. They also would not say how many unauthorized flights have occurred in recent months.

Lab officials also warned of the potential for "collateral interceptions" of normal commercial or hobbyist drone flights, saying pilots should stay well outside the lab’s restricted airspace and the additional no-drone zone designated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

According to the FAA, drones are prohibited from flying over sites designated as national security-sensitive facilities. Aside from military bases and other Defense Department sites, restrictions are in place for national landmarks and certain critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants.
Related:
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Los Alamos: 2020-11-25 614G CV mutation may have made the pandemic more difficult to stop, new evidence suggests
Los Alamos: 2019-10-24 Chief Trump science adviser moves against foreign threat to research secrets
Posted by:Uniting Ebbaviling5617

#7  Seems like an excellent way for free testing of laser based point defense systems. If they can take down missile and artillery shells, zapping drones should be easy.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2021-08-25 16:29  

#6  Why not?
The Israelis do it!
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-08-25 11:31  

#5  You may have noticed that the drones that were shutting down UK airports are out of the news. It's likely the geeks who were flying them are at a black prison in the Baltic now...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-08-25 08:56  

#4  Always the assholes who ruin things for the rest of us. Might want to keep your drone clear of the secret government nuclear facility, eh? Oh no. They have to get blurry shots of the grounds so they can post them on social media and get likes. Because their lives are so empty that that's the only thing that matters.

Meanwhile the rest of us get our nice hobby fucked with. Good job, assholes.
Posted by: Blinky Pholuling8616   2021-08-25 05:38  

#3  Keep your non-government systems away from our controlled airspace. If there is any AGS (Aerial Gamma Spectrometry) sniffing to be conducted, we will do it.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-08-25 05:05  

#2  I've always thought we should have about a 2 football field distance mine field on the border. If you make it though, you can stay.
Posted by: Chris   2021-08-25 01:03  

#1  Last time I drove past the fenced boundary of LANL in 2006 I remember seeing posted signs warning of buried munitions starting on the other side of the fence.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843   2021-08-25 00:26  

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