The FBI plans to deploy specially trained state and local police officers to detect and electronically disable drones at the FIFA World Cup. Officers from various agencies will operate counter-drone equipment under FBI supervision to mitigate potential threats posed by drones at the tournament. Bloomberg reports this, according to UNN.
The FBI plans to deploy approximately 60 specially trained state and local police officers at World Cup venues to detect and electronically disable hostile drones, as security officials warn that threats previously associated with foreign battlefields are becoming increasingly possible within the US.
It is noted that training has already begun. According to a person familiar with the program, officers from agencies such as the New York and New Jersey State Police, the New York and Los Angeles Police Departments, and the Miami-Dade County Sheriff's Office will operate counter-drone equipment under FBI supervision.
This increase reflects growing concern among federal authorities that commercially available drones could be used to disrupt or attack large public gatherings, especially following recent incidents involving sports venues, extremist plots, and overseas conflicts
Security officials say the proliferation of low-cost first-person view (FPV) drones used in Ukraine and the Middle East has fundamentally changed the US approach to security for major events ahead of the tournament, which is expected to draw millions of spectators across North America.
The FBI will directly oversee drone prevention measures in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, while Department of Homeland Security components will cover the other eight US host cities.
One recent exercise in Alabama demonstrated how operators can bring down drones without interrupting games or causing panic.
When a drone rose from a parking lot near Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville and headed toward the soccer field, agents located about a mile away detected the unmanned aerial vehicle using an electronic device, tracked its trajectory, and seized control without firing a single shot
The publication notes that the protection is electronic rather than physical.
Operators use cameras, radar, and radio frequency sensors to detect drones entering restricted airspace, and then electronically disrupt or override the aircraft's controls, instead of using nets, fire, or missiles. These more kinetic options exist in other parts of the federal government's arsenal, but local officers participating in the World Cup program are not authorized to use them
The publication recalls that in June 2025, Ukrainian operatives flew first-person view drones deep into Russia and used them to strike strategic bombers parked thousands of miles from the front lines. US officials have concluded that similar tactics could theoretically be replicated inside the US.
The FBI began planning the expanded training program in 2022 and officially launched it in October after Trump signed an executive order to expand the domestic drone industry and strengthen US airspace protection.
As a reminder
At this year's World Cup, players and fans could face dangerous heat and humidity in approximately a quarter of the matches, scientists warn.