The United States Department of Transportation said a comprehensive airspace security and drone mitigation effort during FIFA World Cup 2026 resulted in the seizure of more than 700 unauthorised drones.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established no-drone zones through nearly 250 temporary flight restrictions covering all match venues, fan festivals, team hotels and training sites. Ground intercept teams of federal and local personnel were deployed at venues to support rapid detection, mitigation and enforcement involving unauthorised drone activity. The 700+ unauthorised drones were seized by th Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They had been found to be operating in restricted airspace across all 11 US host cities.
The operation was the culmination of more than a year of work to address drone threats through grant funding, legislation and training provided by the FBI National Counter-UAS Training Center for state and local law enforcement agencies in all host cities. A federal counter-drone grant provided USD 500 million to support state, local, tribal and territorial procurement of equipment, with the first USD 250 million awarded to host cities and states for the tournament. According to DHS, it was the fastest non-emergency, disaster-related grant awarded in department history.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 counter-drone operation will help hone long-term protections for future high-profile gatherings and critical infrastructure in the US, including the 2028 Olympic Games.
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Image: FAA
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