Texas DPS cleared to take down rogue drones during the World Cup

FEMA funds DPS drones for FIFA World Cup

Texas DPS is getting federal funding for drones to oversee the airspace over the FIFA World Cup games coming to the state this year.

DALLAS - Texas is getting a boost from Washington to help lock down the skies ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Department of Public Safety has secured more than $3 million in federal grant money to detect drones.

Texas DPS has been watching the skies for years. But this new federal funding gives the department authority to do something it couldn’t before – take control of those rogue aircraft.

What we know:

The World Cup will fill seats on the ground and airspace overhead, bringing intense security pressures from the street level to the stratosphere.

"It’s all about airspace safety, to be honest, to ensure that we don’t end up with an incident with all the aviation assets operating," said Captain Aaron Fritch, who oversees drone operations for Texas DPS.

His agency currently uses passive systems to identify drones in the sky and determine who they belong to.

"What we’re getting authorized to do now is to be able to take mitigating actions against unmanned aircraft," he said.

The $3.2 million Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant will let DPS invest in a radio frequency mitigation system.

"We’re going to be able to take over an aircraft," Fritch said. "And safely send that aircraft to a designated location."

DPS believes the new system will be useful, well beyond the World Cup. The technology will help close the gap before a threat ever reaches the ground.

Dig deeper:

Law enforcement forces across Texas are working with Airspace Link, a private company that helps agencies safely manage unmanned aerial systems or vehicles.

"We simplify the process of getting drones in the air, making sure that they’re compliant themselves as well as any other operators in the space," said Sonny Beech with Airspace Link.

The Airspace Link team said quickly identifying an air asset becomes critical when it’s buzzing over large events and crowds.

"We can combine that FAA data with those agencies, and now we can start helping them determine which drones are friendly versus clueless versus ones with bad intentions," he said.

What we don't know:

FEMA awarded the state of Texas a little more than $30 million for this Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems grant, with DPS getting just $3.2 million of it.

It’s not yet clear which other departments will get funding.