A senior U.S. military commander has delivered a troubling warning about America’s homeland defenses, saying the military is currently “ill-equipped” to stop certain large-scale drone attacks against bases inside the United States.
The assessment comes as President Donald Trump and Pentagon leaders pour billions of dollars into new technology designed to protect American troops, military installations and critical infrastructure from rapidly evolving aerial threats.
Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Jarrard, deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command, warned that the problem is not simply finding enough weapons to shoot drones out of the sky.
At some locations, the military may have difficulty detecting the threat in the first place.
General Warns U.S. Bases Face Serious Drone Challenge
Speaking at the annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium, Jarrard said some installations lack sufficient sensors to detect and track an incoming swarm of small unmanned aircraft.
Even when a threat can be identified, the appropriate defensive weapons may not always be available.
Jarrard said the military currently faces gaps in both detecting incoming drone swarms and having the defensive systems needed to stop them, with capabilities varying depending on where an attack might occur.
That is a serious concern because drone warfare has changed dramatically in just a few years.
Instead of needing expensive fighter jets or missiles to threaten a military target, an adversary may be able to deploy numerous inexpensive unmanned aircraft.
Recent conflicts have demonstrated just how dangerous that strategy can become.
Cheap Drones Are Changing Modern Warfare
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have provided military planners with real-world examples of drones being used to threaten troops, vehicles, equipment and infrastructure.
The economics of drone warfare are particularly challenging.
Traditional air-defense interceptors can be extremely expensive. Small drones, by comparison, can cost considerably less.
That means simply firing an expensive missile at every inexpensive drone may not provide a sustainable long-term defense, particularly if an enemy launches dozens of unmanned aircraft simultaneously.
Jarrard made clear that the United States has not completely solved the problem.
“We are ill-equipped right now to handle something like that,” he said.
“We’re seeing it used on a daily basis around the world, and we’ve got to figure out how to mitigate that threat.”
For Americans concerned about national security, the admission raises an obvious question: How quickly can the Pentagon close the gap?
Detection Is One of the Biggest Problems
Before American forces can destroy an incoming drone, they have to know it is there.
That may sound obvious, but detecting small unmanned aircraft can be far more difficult than tracking traditional military planes.
Jarrard described detection as one of the military’s biggest concerns.
U.S. Northern Command is now incorporating counter-drone tactics into Operation Noble Eagle, the longstanding homeland air-defense mission involving the United States and Canada.
NORAD is relying partly on existing radar capabilities while military officials work toward greater cooperation with local law enforcement and other agencies operating detection equipment outside military installations.
That coordination matters because a potential threat does not necessarily begin within the boundaries of a military base.
Military commanders increasingly want different government systems to communicate with one another so suspicious aircraft can be identified before they reach sensitive locations.
Pentagon Seeks Billions for New Defenses
Jarrard is not the first senior commander to raise concerns.
Earlier this year, NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot raised concerns that U.S. forces stationed along the southern border did not have sufficient technology and resources to effectively counter drone threats.
The Pentagon has responded by requesting roughly $21 billion to strengthen its drone arsenal, counter-drone defenses, munitions and other supporting technologies.
The size of that investment shows how seriously military planners are taking the problem.
America spent decades developing defenses against traditional threats such as bombers and ballistic missiles. The challenge now is adapting those defenses to an era in which relatively cheap unmanned aircraft can potentially threaten targets worth millions or even billions of dollars.
The United States therefore needs defensive systems that are both effective and economical.
Trump’s Golden Dome Takes on Greater Importance
The warning comes as Trump moves ahead with his Golden Dome homeland missile-defense initiative.
The ambitious project is intended to strengthen America’s ability to defend against ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles and other sophisticated aerial threats.
Drone swarms present a different kind of challenge.
Small drones can operate at lower altitudes, can be difficult to detect and may potentially be launched in large numbers.
That means America’s homeland defenses must be prepared for threats at both ends of the technological spectrum — from highly advanced missiles traveling at tremendous speeds to relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft approaching military installations.
For the Trump administration, strengthening both types of defenses could become an increasingly important national security priority.
Rubio Raises Separate Concern About Military Bases
The military warning comes amid a separate discussion about unidentified objects reported around U.S. military installations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently argued that reports of unknown aircraft operating near sensitive American facilities deserve serious attention.
“I don’t know who it is. I don’t know what it is, but there are things flying over our military installations, and they’re not ours, and we should look into this, be serious about it,” Rubio said during an interview with Katie Miller.
Rubio was discussing unidentified anomalous phenomena, commonly called UAPs.
His comments should not be confused with Jarrard’s warning.
Neither official suggested that all unexplained objects spotted near U.S. military facilities should be considered hostile drones. Jarrard’s remarks focused specifically on the military’s challenge of identifying, tracking and neutralizing small unmanned aircraft.
Still, the two issues share a fundamental national security concern.
Military officials need to know what is operating in restricted American airspace — and they need the ability to respond when an aircraft presents a legitimate threat.
Could Lasers Become America’s Answer?
The Pentagon is pursuing several possible solutions.
One involves electronic warfare systems capable of disrupting communications between drones and their operators.
Other technologies could interfere with satellite-navigation signals, potentially preventing certain drones from reaching their intended targets.
High-powered microwave weapons offer another possibility. Rather than destroying one aircraft at a time, these systems are being developed to interfere with the electronics of multiple nearby drones.
Perhaps the most intriguing development involves high-energy lasers.
The Army is moving toward its Enduring High Energy Laser program, known as E-HEL, as officials explore whether directed-energy weapons can provide a practical additional layer of defense.
Army chief Gen. Frank Lozano stated testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico has shown considerable promise.
Why Lasers Could Change the Equation
Lasers could potentially address one of the biggest economic problems surrounding drone defense.
Using a costly missile to destroy an inexpensive drone can put the defender at a financial disadvantage.
A directed-energy system could provide another method for engaging incoming aircraft without relying exclusively on traditional interceptor missiles.
But lasers have limitations.
They generally require a clear line of sight to their target. Weather, terrain and other environmental conditions can also affect how directed-energy systems are employed.
And there remains an even more fundamental issue.
A weapon cannot destroy a threat that American forces have failed to detect.
That is why Jarrard’s warning about sensors may ultimately be just as important as the Pentagon’s development of new weapons.
America’s Military Faces a New Kind of Threat
For decades, Americans have been accustomed to thinking about homeland defense in terms of enemy aircraft, nuclear missiles and other extraordinarily expensive weapons.
Drone warfare is changing that equation.
An adversary may no longer need a billion-dollar weapons program to create a serious security problem. Small, inexpensive and expendable aircraft can potentially be deployed in numbers, forcing defenders to detect and respond to numerous targets simultaneously.
America still possesses the world’s most powerful military, but military superiority does not eliminate the need to adapt to new threats.
Jarrard’s warning demonstrates that commanders recognize the vulnerability.
The Pentagon is investing billions in potential solutions, while the Trump administration’s broader homeland-defense buildup could provide additional momentum for closing existing gaps.
The critical issue now is speed.
America’s adversaries are watching the same conflicts, studying the same technology and learning many of the same lessons.
For Trump and America’s military leaders, the mission is increasingly clear: make sure U.S. bases can detect the next generation of aerial threats — and stop them before they reach American troops and critical infrastructure.
What Happens Next?
The coming months could reveal how quickly the Pentagon can move from testing new technology to putting effective defenses around American military installations.
Better radar and sensor networks, stronger coordination between federal and local authorities, electronic warfare systems, microwave weapons and high-energy lasers could all play a role.
But Jarrard’s warning shows that spending money alone will not solve the problem.
Those technologies must be integrated into a reliable system capable of detecting, identifying, tracking and defeating an incoming threat within a very short period of time.
For Americans watching the rapid transformation of warfare overseas, the stakes are difficult to ignore.
The drone revolution is already here.
The question facing Trump and the Pentagon is whether America’s defenses can catch up before the threat reaches home.