Risk & Resilience

Supporting Facility Security with Drone Risk Assessments

Critical Infrastructure Owners & Operators

The Challenge

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are one of the fastest-growing threat vectors facing critical infrastructure today, ranging from careless recreational operators to sophisticated, motivated adversaries. Despite the severity of potential consequences, most facilities have no defensible way to measure their exposure to drone-specific risk. With federal grant funding, including the FEMA C-UAS Grant Program, and new FAA flight restriction airspace becoming available, organizations needed a way to better understand and translate UAS risk into a clear, actionable, and fundable plan.

The Partnership

Partner Forces developed the Aerial Risk & Infrastructure Assessment (ARIA), a hands-on, UAS-specific risk assessment aligned with FESSA Section 2209 and DHS risk frameworks. Our approach includes conducting a full on-site walk-through, typically completed in just 2-3 days, to evaluate seven UAS threat types across nine vulnerability domains, including physical security, cybersecurity, operations, airspace, and emergency planning. Because Partner Forces does not sell, install, or operate C-UAS technology, ARIA delivers an independent, unbiased assessment clients and partners can trust.

The Impact

Through ARIA, our team helps clients:

Protect Their Airspace

• Provide clear, evidence-based justification to support applications for permanent UAS flight restrictions, pending FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act Section 2209 revisions. 

Build a Scalable UAS Program

• Design a UAS security program that aligns policy, technology, and training under a single risk framework built to evolve with emerging threats. 

Target Mitigation Investments

• Prioritize spending on detection technology based on quantified risk, so resources are deployed where it reduces exposure most. 

 Apply for Federal Grant Funding

• Meet the threat assessment requirement for the FEMA C-UAS Grant Program application, available to all states and territories for UAS detection and response capability

Building a New UAS Security Program from the Ground Up

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

The Challenge

In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) pose a unique cyber and physical threat critical infrastructure organizations across all sectors. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure, including risks from drones. CISA needed a strategic partner to build a new program office to help the agency respond to the growing UAS threat and navigate the complexities around uncrewed technology.

The Partnership

Together, CISA and Partner Forces collaborated to stand up a new UAS Security Program Office. As expert operators and risk advisors, we leveraged our team’s specialized skills and experience to establish a new governance framework, as well as operational and communication processes.

The Impact

Through our proactive leadership and collaborative efforts, our team helped CISA:

Advance Strategic Planning Efforts

• Define a strategy and plan to help the UAS Security Program Office grow and scale, define the mission space, and operate more efficiently​.

Manage Programs & Protect the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure​

• Stand up and operationalize a new program office to help DHS and CISA address unique security considerations related to drones and potential impacts to national critical infrastructures.

Improve Communications & Enhance Partnerships​

• Improve how the office communicates, engages, and shares information internally and with external public and private sector stakeholders.
• Increase public awareness around UAS threats and mitigation best practices and considerations​.
• Open new communications channels with international counterparts and other security entities.