A drone that crashed near a Pennsylvania power plant last year was likely meant to damage or disrupt the electric equipment, according to a federal bulletin sent to law enforcement across the country.
The July 2020 incident is the first known case of a “modified unmanned aircraft system likely being used in the United States to specifically target energy infrastructure,” states the October 28 memo from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center.
According to the document, there was to any damage done but it is unknown who was responsible for operating the drone that crashed on a rooftop near the unidentified substation according to CNN.
Whoever modified the drone likely tried to create a “short circuit to cause damage to transformers or distribution lines, based on the design and recovery location,” the intelligence memo says. The drone “appeared to be heavily worn, indicating it was flown previously and was modified for this single flight.”
