Eleven days ago, a teenager from Ohio nearly bombed the White House UFC event with explosive drones.
Now the FBI's second-in-command is telling America that was just a preview.
FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia just told Fox News Digital this is only a matter of time.
The Threat That Keeps FBI Up at Night
Raia's exact words deserve to sink in.
"I think the biggest threat right now, kind of the five-yard target, if you will, is going to be that threat from a drone," he said.
He's not talking about the kind of drone plot you might picture – some lone eccentric with a hobbyist quadcopter.
He's talking about the next generation of drone warfare that American soldiers have been watching shred Russian armored columns in Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/NewYorkFBI/status/2070175840717983807?s=20
The difference between what happened on European battlefields and what could happen in your city comes down to a single technological shift: cellular networks.
Today's commercial drones rely on short-range radio frequency links.
The operator has to stay close.
That limit is disappearing.
When China Can Fly a Drone Over New Orleans
The scenario Raia described to Fox News is not theoretical.
"That means somebody in China can control a drone over New Orleans," he said.
In June 2025, Ukraine launched more than 100 explosive-payload drones against five Russian airfields deep inside Russia – guided by operators sitting in Ukraine, transmitting through Russia's own 4G cellular networks.
The drones hit their targets.
The technology that made it possible is commercially available right now.
A cheap cellular modem, a SIM card, and a laptop – and whoever built the drone can guide it from another continent into an American city.
The UFC plot that Raia's agents just disrupted shows what this looks like on American soil.
https://twitter.com/OwenGregorian/status/2070128197044215909?s=20
Tycen Proper, 19, from Danville, Ohio, told investigators he planned to "jump-start a revolution" with explosive drone bombings over the White House arena while co-conspirators took up sniper positions on evacuation routes.
The whole thing came apart because Proper's mother called the police on her own son.
One phone call.
That is the margin.
Biden Left the Door Wide Open
The FBI has seized more than 300 unauthorized drones and made eight arrests just during FIFA World Cup security operations.
Those are the ones they caught.
NCTC Director Joseph Kent told the House Homeland Security Committee in December 2025 that there are 18,000 known and suspected terrorists currently inside the United States – terrorists who entered under Joe Biden's open-border disaster.
They are watching what happened in Ukraine and the Middle East the same way Raia is watching it.
The encrypted communications problem makes this worse.
Raia openly acknowledged that investigators cannot see into every Signal chat where attack planning may be happening.
"I think I would be foolish to think that we're in every single one of those rooms," he said.
https://twitter.com/burntoast317/status/2070182668705087692?s=20
The UFC conspirators used Signal.
At least 23 users in the primary chat alone, each assigned a specific role, coordinating attack timing, drone positions, and sniper coverage across multiple locations.
The Window Is Closing
Dan Bongino, former FBI Deputy Director, put the timeline bluntly.
"This technology is evolving on probably weekly, if not monthly cycles now," he said June 16. "And don't think that people looking to commit malicious acts, terrorists and others, haven't picked up on this. It's cheap. It's very difficult to defeat."
Ukraine was producing 4.5 million drones annually by 2025 – and began exporting the hardware and manufacturing expertise to other countries this year.
That knowledge is spreading to people who want Americans dead.
Congress needs to act before the FBI is forced to catch the next plot on luck alone – expand counter-drone authority so local police can legally take down a threat drone without waiting for federal clearance, and give investigators the surveillance tools to see inside the encrypted rooms where the planning is already happening.
The UFC plot fell apart on luck.
The next one won't.
Sources:
- Morgan Phillips and Michael Ruiz, "FBI warns battlefield-style drone attacks could reach US: 'Only a matter of time,'" Fox News, June 25, 2026.
- "FBI disrupts alleged explosive-drone plot targeting White House UFC event, officials say," Fox News, June 2026.
- "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," Federal Bureau of Investigation testimony, December 2025.
- "ICYMI: Homeland Republicans Examine Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," House Committee on Homeland Security, December 2025.
- "The new precision weapon: Is the West ready for cellular drones?" The Hill, June 2026.
- "Public mobile networks are being weaponized for combat drone operations," Help Net Security, February 2026.