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New brief finds public support for homeland counter-drone operations
Policymakers fear a backlash over counter-drone operations at home. New experimental evidence from Paul Lushenko and Jennifer Spindel suggests Americans broadly support them.
Despite the proliferation of drones across America, policymakers and defence officials have been hesitant to authorise counter-drone operations in the homeland, fearing backlash over unintended consequences, especially the loss of American lives and damage to property.
A new brief by Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr. Paul Lushenko and Dr. Jennifer Spindel of the University of New Hampshire tests that assumption directly, and finds it largely unfounded. Americans generally support counter-drone operations in the US homeland.
Support is not unconditional. Three factors shape it, the characteristics of the drone incursion, who authorises the response, and the effects in terms of Americans' safety.
The study provides the first experimental evidence of what shapes public support for these operations, with implications for both policy and strategy.