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New brief sets out a whole-of-government approach to defending America against drones
From Hamas on October 7 to Ukraine's Operation Spider Web, drones now open wars. Paul Lushenko and Joseph Amoroso argue the U.S. must defend against them everywhere and all the time.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas used drones to initiate its attack on Israel. On June 1, 2025, Ukraine conducted Operation Spider Web, using over 100 drones to strike Russian military bases and destroy a third of the country's strategic bombers. Later that month Israel used drones to destroy Iran's air defences ahead of a strike on Iranian missile sites.
A new brief by Senior Fellow Dr. Paul Lushenko and Joseph Amoroso argues that these trends leave the U.S. military needing to defend against drones everywhere and all the time.
Proliferation now crosses the boundary between states and non-state actors, with the Islamic State having developed a bureaucratic drone programme of its own. The threat is domestic too. In December 2023, dozens of drones disrupted operations at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, forcing the relocation of the F-22 Raptors responsible for defending the homeland.