In an unusual but disturbing security breach, an amateur drone enthusiast skirted past armed patrol boats to land a small unmanned aircraft aboard the deck of the Royal Navy’s newly-commissioned aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, according to the The Telegraph.
The ship was docked at a presumably secure port in Invergordon, Scotland.
The fact that the drone triggered no security alarms — and that security officers there waved at the drone — prompted concern among military and security experts.
Alan West, a former First Sea Lord, the United Kingdom’s equivalent of the U.S. Navy’s chief of naval operations, told the Daily Mail that it was worrisome that a drone could reach the aircraft carrier since terrorist groups like the Islamic State have been using drones to drop bombs in Iraq and Syria.
The unidentified drone operator told the Telegraph, “I was amazed that I was able to land on the aircraft carrier for two reasons, the first being that there was no one about to prevent it from landing although were security police around in small boats who were waving at the drone.”
Mackenzie Wolf is an editorial intern for Military Times.
