A lone wolf eco-warrior or a group of climate change activists could be behind the most damaging drone assault on a UK airport in history
Airports are prime targets for environmental demonstrators angry about climate change, who have chained themselves to aircraft, invaded runways and blocked access roads in recent years
The sabotage which grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands stranded is believed to have been 'targeted' and the sophistication of the equipment involved suggests it was well-planned and financed
Gatwick is also currently at the centre of a bitter row over pollution fears around plans to use its emergency runway to bring in more than 100,000 additional flights a year
Police investigating the attack do not think it is terror related but Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today refused to rule out it being the actions of a foreign state
Asked if it was possible the drone was being operated by an agent of a foreign government, Mr Grayling told BBC Breakfast: 'I don't want to speculate on that, we genuinely don't know who it is or what the motivation was
''I think it's unlikely to be, but at the moment I'm not ruling out anything', he added
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'Our Christmas plans have been ruined by a rogue drone':. Share this article Share 21 shares The Cabinet minister also said that whoever the perpetrator or perpetrators were, they needed to 'go to jail for a long time'
If no foreign agent was involved, that suggests three possibilities are among potential suspects; an organised campaign group, a lone eco-extremist or an anarchic hobbyist looking to cause carnage
Other, less likely theories put forward include a local angry about aircraft noise, immigration activists or an extortionist trying to get money out of a business linked to the airport
The most high-profile 'direct action' groups in the UK include Extinction Rebellion, who shut down central London in anti-traffic protests last month, and Plane Stupid, whose members chained themselves to Heathrow's runway in 2015
Meanwhile 15 activists are facing jail after storming into Stansted Airport and grounding a Home Office deportation plane heading to Africa in March 2017
The group caused chaos using bolt cutters on the perimeter fence and chained themselves to a 767 chartered to transport detainees from UK detention centres back to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone
They will be sentenced on February 4.But nobody has yet claimed responsibility for this week's action, raising suspicions that it a saboteur acting alone
The drone's pilot may have been operating from a moving location, a car or a van, navigating the gadget using an mobile phone or tablet, an expert has said
Former army major Robert Garbett, a government adviser, said the pilot would not need to have direct sight of the drone, explaining why the flying device was able to land and disappear as soon as a police helicopter began searching the area
The aeronautical engineer told MailOnline: 'It is very hard for the police to detect that as sophisticated equipment is needed and that is why the army has been brought in
' Mr Garbett, chairman of the British Standards Institution committee for UK drones, founded the Drone Major group in 2017 to offer specialist advice on technology to governments and companies
He said it was unlikely the operator who has caused such disruption would be sitting in a hotel room or hidden away
'This is all about the C2 signal, the command and control signal. The operator has to have a strong signal to fly the drone from a distance
'That is illegal, but the person doing this is not worried about any of the restrictions that have been put in place for drone operators
'The operator would be able to pre-programme it to fly for a certain period of time and land at a pre-selected location where the batteries could be changed
'He would be able to launch the drone from one place, and while it is airborne drive to another location and pick it up,' said Garbett
He said commercial drones allow for designated routes to be loaded into the GPS system and controlled automatically rather like an autopilot on a passenger jet
Sussex Police, in charge of patrolling the airport, today revealed that Scotland Yard and officers from neighbouring Surrey Police have joined the manhunt
Steve Coulson, managing director of drone detection firm Coptrz, said it appeared to be a 'targeted attack' that could have originated abroad
He told the Times: 'The operator may not even be in the country. You can have a secure internet link from China or Russia and control it remotely, just like we control drones remotely from Arizona and fly them over Afghanistan
'I'm surprised how brazen this is. I thought we might get some low-level stuff this year but somebody or some group are pushing the envelope
'Some 350,000 people face having their Christmas plans ruined as disruption continued at Gatwick today
Drone expert Carys Kaiser told MailOnline: 'It's definitely not a hobbyist who's thinking I'll get some extra footage from a YouTube channel
'It is definitely something that is more organised in some capacity because obviously the drones that I fly and the drones that most people fly in the UK have this geofencing and we can't get them to take off that close to an airport
'So this is somebody that has possibly hacked their software or possibly modified their drone in some way
'Ms Kaiser added: '[The manufacturers] have all developed this software to ensure that people can't just take a drone near an airport and take off
'You get lock zones, so you'll get a yellow zone that could be a stately home or a football ground - it will say to you do you have permission, and you have to put in details and the manufacturer knows who it is, and if there was an incident they could trace it
'When you get an airport that's a red zone, and you can't unlock it unless you get written permission from an airport
You have to submit documentation, wait for five days and then you get an unlock code so you can fly
'As with anything that's malicious, people will hack the software, modify the drones to get around all of that
If you've got malicious intent, you've got a malicious mind, you don't abide by the rules
' A former Army captain told The Sun that the attacker had showed 'some serious capability' and could be a 'genius' with a PhD
Richard Gill said: 'Perhaps we are dealing with a person who just wants to do it to show how clever they are
'He or she is just causing hell because they can and they want to test their limits
It's the thrill of getting away with it.' No person or group has yet claimed responsibility for the sabotage, but officials are said to be working on the theory the saboteur could be an 'eco-warrior'
A Whitehall source told the Daily Telegraph that an eco-protest was a 'definite line of inquiry'
Environmental activist groups have previously targeted airports, in particular to protest the proposed expansion of Heathrow
When asked why someone would want to disrupt the airport, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'There's no sense of motive - there's no suggestion that this is a terrorist act
'The counter-terrorist police have been very clear that they've seen no evidence that this is intended to be a terrorist act
It's clearly someone who wants to disrupt Gatwick Airport and there's an intense police operation
'We've got two police forces in Surrey and Sussex working together to try and catch the perpetrator, supported by the Met, supported by the counter-terrorism police and no evidence of a terrorist link at the moment
' Sussex Police also said that 'our assessment, based upon the information that we have available to us, is that this incident is not terrorism-related'
The runway has been closed almost constantly since two drones were spotted being flown inside Gatwick's perimeter at 9pm on Wednesday
It was reopened at 3am on Thursday but was closed 45 minutes later after the drones re-emerged
Chris Woodroofe said 120,000 passengers' flights had been disrupted and the drone that has plagued the airport since Wednesday evening is still in the air
Night-flight restrictions will be lifted at other airports - probably those which serve London - so that 'more planes can get in to and out of the country', Mr Grayling said
'Apologies for the residents affected, but it's right and proper that we try and sort people's Christmases out,' he said
Timeline: How the drone chaos at Gatwick Airport has unfoldedAfter a drone caused chaos for tens of thousands of passengers at Gatwick Airport, we look at how the events have unfolded so far:WEDNESDAY9pm - Gatwick suspends flights in and out of the airport after reports of two drones flying near the airfield
Some planes are diverted to other airports.YESTERDAY3am - The runway reopens3.45am - The runway shuts again after a further report of drone sightings10
20am - Sussex Police reveal the flying of drones close to the airfield is 'a deliberate act to disrupt the airport', but 'there are absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror related'12
20pm - The airport's chief operating officer Chris Woodroofe says around 110,000 passengers are due to travel on Thursday, most of whom will see cancellations and disruptions
3.50pm - The Ministry of Defence says police are in 'ongoing discussions' with the Army about assisting with the operation to find the drones
5.50pm - Gatwick's chief executive officer Stewart Wingate says the drone flights are 'highly targeted' and have 'been designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas'
9.30pm - Mr Woodroofe says the airport will remain closed for the rest of the evening after drone activity was reported 'within the last hour'
9.30pm - Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley, of Sussex Police, says there have been more than 50 sightings of the device in the past 24 hours
He reveals that shooting down the drone is a 'tactical option' being considered by police
TODAY 5.58am - According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, a plane from East Midlands Airport lands at Gatwick
6.30am - Gatwick Airport says the runway is 'currently available' and that a 'limited number' of planes are scheduled for departure and arrival
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