The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has initiated a new phase in drone surveillance, deploying its own small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) for the first time to survey potential drone threats over San Francisco International Airport (SFO). According to a recent announcement by the Transportation Security Administration, the Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service (LE/FAMS) UAS Assessments Unit will be at the helm of these operations, part of the broader strategy to enhance security measures for the U.S. Transportation Systems Sector.

Acting Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge Ty Fletcher underscored the agency's commitment to addressing the challenge of unmanned aircraft systems in restricted airspaces. "In our mission to protect the nation’s transportation systems, TSA faces a range of growing challenges associated with the threat posed by UAS," Fletcher said, as per the Transportation Security Administration. Fletcher's statement also noted the need to identify and neutralize drone-based disturbances quickly.

During the SFO exercise, the TSA deployed the Skydio X10 drone, a domestically produced and cyber-hardened sUAS sanctioned by the DHS Blue UAS Program. Assistant Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge Jason Goff outlined the use of the drone: "sUAS supports UAS assessments by providing photographic evidence of line-of-sight and possible attack trajectories from altitude." Goff described how these evaluations could fortify airport security against potential unmanned threats, as cited by the Transportation Security Administration.