Inside America's Counter-Drone Buildup Before the World Cup
· TexaHub · Drones, Defence & Security, Regulation & Ethics, Risks & Opportunities
With the tournament two weeks away, US host cities are buying detection systems, certifying police under new federal authority and enforcing no-drone zones, while key rules remain unwritten.
Two weeks out
The FIFA World Cup opens on 11 June and runs to 19 July, with 48 national teams and millions of visitors expected across 11 US host cities [10]. For the security agencies preparing for it, small drones have become a central concern. "Every major public gathering, from a World Cup match to an America 250 celebration, is now a drone environment," Devin Kowalski, director of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group, told NPR [8].
Over the past fortnight the pieces of a national counter-drone effort have come into view: federal grant money flowing to host cities, local police certified to act against drones for the first time, regional sensor networks going live, and a set of Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions announced this week [3] [6] [4] [10]. This report sets out what has been put in place, who is paying for it and what remains unsettled.
The scale of the event shapes the response. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the final at MetLife Stadium has been designated a National Special Security Event, the highest federal tier, while the remaining 77 US matches carry Special Event Assessment Rating 1 or 2 designations [12]. CSIS describes drones as "increasingly a wild card": several lone attackers in the US have attempted to use them to deliver explosives in recent years, though none have succeeded [12].
New authority, unfinished rules
The legal foundation is the Safer Skies Act, passed as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act and signed on 18 December 2025, according to DroneXL [7]. It amended the Homeland Security Act to extend counter-drone mitigation authority to state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement for the first time [7]. Until then such powers were reserved for a small group of federal agencies [7].
The authority comes with conditions. DroneXL reported that officers must be individually certified at the FBI's National Counter-UAS Training Center at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, may use only equipment from a federally maintained list, and must notify the Justice Department and Homeland Security within 48 hours of each mitigation action [7]. It also reported that the 180-day window for the Justice Department to issue full implementing regulations closes on 16 June, after the tournament has begun [7]. "The rules are still being written," an unnamed drone industry official told Politico, as quoted by Inside Unmanned Systems [6].
NPR, which observed the course in Huntsville, described a two-week FBI programme in which state and local officers learn to detect, track and respond to drones, ending with an exercise at a local stadium [8]. The class it observed was the fourth since the course began late last year and included officers from New Jersey, New York, Miami and Los Angeles [8]. "This course is about teaching people the fundamentals of the technology but more importantly, the judgment of when to use it," said Michael Torphy, who leads the FBI's drone programme [8]. Kowalski added: "The FBI is not looking for the hobbyist. We're looking for the threat" [8].
Numbers remain modest. Inside Unmanned Systems reported that the FBI is fielding roughly 60 specially trained state and local officers across the 11 host cities and will directly oversee counter-drone operations in Los Angeles, Miami and New York [6]. DroneXL reported that the bureau told Congress in April that 45 officers had been certified and 61 were projected before the opening match, with Homeland Security components covering the other eight host cities [7].
Who is paying
Much of the local buying is funded by a $500 million counter-drone appropriation in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, administered by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency [6] [7]. DRONELIFE reported that the first $250 million is going to state and local agencies in cities associated with the World Cup and America 250 events, with a second $250 million to be distributed more broadly [1]. DroneXL's figure for grants earmarked to the 11 host states for the tournament is somewhat lower, at over $220 million [3].
Allocations are now turning into contracts. In New York, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on 21 May that the department has purchased $6.5 million of drone mitigation equipment and stood up a permanent counter-drone unit [6]. DroneXL reported that New York State received $17.2 million in the first round, of which $6.46 million was set aside for the NYPD [7]. Dallas City Council unanimously approved a $10.3 million FEMA grant that extends its existing Axon contract to cover drone detection, tracking, identification and pilot location using radio-frequency, radar and camera systems [3]. Axon acquired the counter-drone company Dedrone in October 2024 [3].
In Texas, the Department of Public Safety said it now has the legal authority and technology to take control of drones in restricted airspace around AT&T Stadium in Arlington, funded by a $3.2 million FEMA award [2]. The agency said it would do so by "non-kinetic means", landing the drone in a designated area without damaging it, and that its operators have completed FBI counter-drone training [2]. "We just want to take custody of the drone, identify the pilot and then conduct an investigation," said Marcus Tomerlin, assistant chief pilot for DPS aircraft operations [2].
To help agencies spend the money, the Homeland Security Department's National Urban Security Technology Laboratory, named technical adviser to the FEMA grant programme, has released a counter-drone purchasing tool for comparing vendor offerings [1]. Laboratory director Alice Hong said the aim is to "cut through that marketing noise because there are so many vendors in this space right now" [1].
Networks, not gadgets
Hong's main warning was about coordination rather than hardware. "Federal, state, local and even the private stadium operators are all going to be bringing their counter-UAS kits," she said, but without a coordinated plan informed by line-of-sight analysis, radio-frequency surveys and site assessments, "these systems can actually interfere with one another and create gaps in coverage" [1].
Kansas City is the most developed attempt to address that. On 14 May the city's police department and Airspace Link launched a regional platform that combines Airspace Link's AirHub coordination software with DroneShield's detection and response system and other sensors already operated by local agencies [4]. Arrowhead Stadium, which hosts six World Cup matches, is among the sites covered [4]. Airspace Link chief executive Michael Healander said the aim is that agencies do not "have to go to 10 different city networks to look at what drones are flying through the area" [4]. The platform also brings in authorised operators such as media companies and Amazon Prime Air [4].
DroneShield, which describes itself as the primary detection and threat-response layer in the deployment, said the Kansas City approach emphasises persistent regional airspace awareness across multiple jurisdictions rather than single-site protection [5]. Healander said the platform will remain after the tournament and could underpin police drone-as-first-responder programmes and wider drone traffic management [4]. DRONELIFE reported that the partial government shutdown affecting Homeland Security, which began in February and ended on 30 April, is thought to have slowed some cities' preparations [4].
No-drone zones and enforcement
The FAA has now announced temporary flight restrictions for the tournament, which it is calling "No Drone Zones" [10]. On match days, all aircraft including drones are barred within three nautical miles of stadiums and up to 3,000 feet above ground unless authorised by air traffic control; fan festivals generally carry a one-nautical-mile, 1,000-foot restriction, and team hotels, base camps and training sites are also covered [10]. Violations can bring fines of up to $100,000, confiscation of the drone and possible criminal charges, the FAA warned [10].
"Drone operators should expect swift action if they violate restricted airspace," said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford [9]. The agency is pairing the restrictions with its new Drone Expedited and Targeted Enforcement Response programme, designed to speed up identification of violations and enforcement [10]. In Atlanta, the FBI said its field office will have tactical reinforcements in place for the 39 days of the tournament and that agencies will work "under one structure" with the White House leading the overall security posture [9].
The military parallel and what to watch
The domestic effort is unfolding alongside a much larger military one. On 18 May the Pentagon's Joint Interagency Task Force 401 awarded Perennial Autonomy a three-year, $500 million contract for counter-drone systems, including the Merops interceptor, which the company says has intercepted more than 4,000 Russian drones in Ukraine since mid-2024 [11]. The task force said the systems are being used by forces in US Central Command [11]. DefenseScoop reported that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told lawmakers in April that the service bought 13,000 Merops interceptors at roughly $15,000 each early in the conflict with Iran [11]. Officials have cited battlefield use of drones in Ukraine and Iran as part of the case for domestic preparation; Tisch called the drone threat the issue that "keeps me up at night" [6].
Several questions will shape how this capability is judged. The first is readiness: tens of certified local officers spread across 11 metro areas is a thin layer for a final and 77 other US matches plus fan zones, and the Justice Department's implementing rules may arrive mid-tournament. The second is integration: as Hong warned, layering federal, state, local and private systems in the same airspace creates its own risks. The third is what happens afterwards. Tisch said the NYPD unit will keep operating after the World Cup, and DroneXL noted that FEMA's grant programme runs a 39-month performance window that extends well beyond the tournament [7]. DroneXL also pointed out that the NYPD declined to say what mitigation equipment it bought [7].
CSIS notes that French authorities intercepted 90 unauthorised drones during the 2024 Paris Olympics, which concluded without a major terrorist incident [12]. That is a useful benchmark for scale. In our assessment, the World Cup will be the first large test of whether a federal-local model built in a few months can deal with careless hobbyists quickly and proportionately while remaining ready for a rare deliberate threat, and of how much of that capability becomes a permanent feature of American policing.
Sources
[1] How DHS Is Helping World Cup Host Cities Get Counter-UAS Ready Before FIFA 2026 — DRONELIFE, 14 May 2026
[2] Texas DPS gets authority to take control of drones flying near AT&T Stadium during World Cup — NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, 15 May 2026
[3] Dallas Adds $10.3M to Axon for World Cup Counter-Drone — DroneXL, 18 May 2026
[4] Kansas City Builds a World Cup-Era Drone Defense Network — DRONELIFE, 20 May 2026
[5] DroneShield Expands Urban Airspace Security Capabilities Ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 — DroneShield, 27 May 2026
[6] NYPD Stands Up Permanent Counter-Drone Unit Under Safer Skies Act — Inside Unmanned Systems, 26 May 2026
[7] NYPD Spends $6.5M To Stand Up Counter-Drone Unit Built To Outlast The World Cup — DroneXL, 27 May 2026
[8] FBI trains local and state police on how to stop growing threat of drones — NPR, 28 May 2026
[9] FAA declares a 'No Drone Zone' in Atlanta for World Cup, FBI details security plan — Atlanta News First, 28 May 2026
[10] FAA Creates World Cup No-Drone Zones Across U.S. Host Cities — DRONELIFE, 29 May 2026
[11] Pentagon awards $500 million contract to Perennial Autonomy for counter-drone systems — DefenseScoop, 19 May 2026
[12] The Terrorist Threat to the 2026 World Cup — CSIS, 27 May 2026