Recent drone incursions over some of America’s most sensitive military installations reveal a troubling reality: even hardened, high-priority sites are no longer immune to advanced drones. Protecting these bases is essential – but if adversaries can penetrate them, it suggests the civilian infrastructure that we rely on every day is far more vulnerable than we are prepared to admit.

Cheap, commercially accessible drones are reshaping conflict abroad while exposing this dangerous truth at home. America’s greatest vulnerability is no longer confined to its borders. It is embedded in the infrastructure that underpins daily life: airports, energy grids, data centers, and ports. This is America’s soft underbelly, and it is increasingly exposed.

We write from two perspectives shaped by this threat. One of us has spent four decades in aerospace and defense and now leads a company building counter-drone systems, witnessing firsthand how quickly these technologies evolve and how creatively they are used. The other served in Congress on the House Intelligence Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, helping shape policies to confront emerging threats before they reach U.S. soil.

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What we are seeing is not theoretical. It is a clear and accelerating trend.

Inexpensive drones now surveil targets, deliver contraband, and carry explosive payloads with precision. They are adaptable, difficult to detect, and easy to scale. Just as important, they lower the barrier to entry. Capabilities once reserved for nation-states are now within reach of terrorists, sleeper cells, criminal groups and individuals.

That reality should change how we think about homeland security.

The United States has made extraordinary investments to deter high-end threats. Our military remains the most capable in the world with unmatched global reach, from carrier strike groups to next-generation aircraft and missile defense systems.

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But those systems were built for a different layer of the threat environment.

America’s air defenses were designed to track and defeat missiles and aircraft, not small drones flying just above the ground. That gap is now one of the most exposed layers in our national security architecture.

Complicating the challenge is the legal environment. Much of the airspace where drones operate overlaps with civilian jurisdictions, where countermeasures are tightly restricted. In many cases, federal law limits who can detect, track, or disable a drone, even in sensitive areas.

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In today’s environment, it’s often easier to buy and operate a drone than it is to legally stop one. This isn’t just a military problem. It’s a domestic one. Across the country, critical infrastructure operates with limited protection against low-altitude threats. At the same time, the domestic drone ecosystem is large, growing, and heavily reliant on foreign-manufactured hardware.

This creates a difficult reality for infrastructure operators. Airports, ports and energy facilities must maintain safety and continuity, yet most lack the authority to act against a drone threat.

A drone does not need to destroy a facility to have impact. It only needs to disrupt one. A temporary shutdown at a port, airport, or power substation can ripple across supply chains, economic activity, and public confidence.

Recent incidents on U.S. soil underscore both the urgency of the threat and the gaps that remain. Unauthorized drones penetrated the airspace over Barksdale Air Force Base, forcing operational disruptions. Around the same time, U.S. Northern Command confirmed drone incursions over another strategic installation during the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury.

If this can happen at sensitive military installations, it should change how we think about civilian infrastructure that was never designed for this threat.

Washington has begun to respond, though unevenly. The Trump administration established Joint Interagency Task Force 401 to bring together the Department of War, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and other agencies under a single operational framework for counter-drone efforts. Congress also expanded counter-UAS authorities in the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act, creating a pathway for broader deployment of defensive technologies.

These are necessary steps, but they aren’t sufficient. Drone technology is advancing faster than the legal frameworks needed to deploy counter-UAS technology at scale.

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There is no single solution to defeat every drone threat. Effective defense requires a layered approach combining detection, tracking, identification, and mitigation. Within that framework, radio-frequency-based systems offer a practical foundation: cost-effective, capable, and scalable.

More broadly, the United States needs a shift in mindset. Counter-drone capability should not be treated as a niche tool reserved for war zones. It should be understood more like cybersecurity: an essential, always-on layer built into critical systems.

Major events will always require heightened security, but the greater risk lies in persistent targets – the infrastructure that powers the economy and supports daily life. These systems require continuous protection against an evolving threat.

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Other nations are investing accordingly. The United States has the technology and capacity to respond. What is needed now is urgency. The threat is not distant. It is not hypothetical. And it will not fade.

Our soft underbelly is exposed. We shouldn’t wait for an attack on American soil to make that obvious.

Steve Haro is CEO of WhiteFox Defense Technologies, an American counter-drone company.