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Drone, Missile Defense Top Priorities for Incoming Trump Defense Secretary

Posted on Wednesday, November 20, 2024
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by Ben Solis
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Trump Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth will have plenty of challenges facing him if he indeed is confirmed to the top post at the Pentagon following four years of military chaos and mismanagement under Joe Biden. One of the most critical threats he must address is the vulnerability of the American homeland and overseas assets to missile and drone attacks.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has enjoyed decades of relatively low threat levels from foreign adversaries. Outside of 9/11, there have been no major attacks on American soil, and the specter of nuclear Armageddon has thankfully faded into the background.

But that dynamic may now be changing with China’s development of advanced hypersonic weapons and the advent of “drone swarm” technology that could overwhelm existing U.S. defense capabilities.

Since Ronald Reagan, U.S. presidents have largely understood the importance of continuing to upgrade and modernize America’s missile defense shield. Reagan wisely recognized that “peace through strength” was the best deterrent to war with the Soviet Union, and that strategy eventually led to the U.S.S.R.’s collapse.

President Joe Biden, however, has abandoned this wisdom, believing instead that bolstering the U.S. military’s capabilities is “provocative” and “destabilizing.” Despite the demonstrated importance of state-of-the-art missile defense systems in the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, Biden cut missile defense funding in his Fiscal Year 2025 budget.

Biden has also slashed funding for directed energy defense systems, which are emerging as the next revolutionary technology in missile and drone defense, and his administration has reduced purchases of missile interceptor systems like those used in Israel’s Iron Dome.

During its October 7 attacks last year, Hamas used drones as a critical part of its assault on Israel. Hezbollah and Iran-sponsored Houthi terrorists have also used drones extensively, while Israel has used drones to eliminate Hamas leaders. In the Russian war against Ukraine, unmanned platforms such as drones and glide bombs have severely hampered Ukraine’s defensive forces and cities, while Ukraine has used its own drones to conduct long-range missions deep inside Russian territory.

Both conflicts have seen an escalating arms race in offensive missiles and drone technology on the one hand and systems to defend against missiles and drones on the other.

Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, who last month observed Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones and attacks in Odessa, told me that the U.S. would have difficulty repelling those weapons if they were launched at U.S. military assets or civilian targets.

The U.S. “could not do the same homeland defense as Ukraine,” he said. “All of the attacks I have seen, we would fail miserably in defending the homeland.”

Former Defense Undersecretary John Rood told me in an interview that, over the last four years, America has “lost ground to our adversaries” since the White House did not treat missile defense “as a primary warfare area.” He specifically noted the Pentagon’s failure to secure critical defense installations in the United States from Chinese drones and spy balloons.

Admiral Montgomery likewise stated that the last four years were “lost” when it comes to missile defense.

Moreover, the threat from drones and missiles is much more serious and immediate than most Americans realize. According to a Wall Street Journal report out last month, in December 2023 a swarm of “mystery drones” flew over Langley Air Force base in Virginia as well as Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port. The drones returned numerous times over the course of 17 days – yet still, the military was unable to track them and had no idea who was flying them or what their intentions were.

U.S. officials also confirmed that more unidentified drone swarms were spotted in recent months near Edwards Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles, and over military bases in Alaska.

General Glen VanHerck, former Commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said that the Army has “observed drones for years” around American bases. Still, the incursion over Langley was “unlike any” in the past. After the incidents, VanHerck informed Congress that the Pentagon had limited options to address the threat of drones and other unknown flying objects over the United States.

During a discussion with missile defense specialists, VanHerck said that the U.S. military lacked the legal, logistical, and military tools to stop drone incursions under the Biden administration. He stated that “hypersonic platforms, low-observable missiles, drones, and other modern equipment” challenge the U.S. military’s ability to identify threats and eliminate them. Effectively countering drones in particular will require careful action from the federal government to balance the privacy rights of American drone owners while ensuring the military has the capabilities it needs to know who and what is flying near military installations.

If these deficiencies are not addressed quickly, he continued, U.S. adversaries “will perceive that we are not serious about defending our homeland.”

The United States is now facing an emerging alliance of Russia, China, and Iran which have all made great strides in drone and missile technology in recent years. Russia has collaborated with China and Iran on drone capabilities since the early 2000s, according to a defector from Russian Military Counterintelligence who requested anonymity to speak to me.

Biden has undoubtedly left the United States facing a more dangerous and hostile world, with the threats from enemy missiles and drones growing by the day. It will be up to President Trump and his military leadership to address this threat before it’s too late.

Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.

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Jim Johnson
Jim Johnson
17 days ago

The Democrats have been trying to destroy the U. S. since 1861. They have never stopped. To that end they have killed at least 70 million Americans, undermined the military and destroyed the manufacturing base in the U. S. In the next war, there will be no arsenal of democracy. They currently have a foreign invasion underway. How many more Americans get to die before the Democrat party leadership are charged with treason.

Joe
Joe
17 days ago

Biden screwed our country and its defensive capabilities. In addition, he’s escalating the Russian-Ukraine war, which never would have started under Trump. In my honest opinion, that’s treason, or at the very least a breach of his oath of office. I don’t care how old and feeble he is, Biden and his administration must be held accountable.

Fred
Fred
17 days ago

As these examples indicate, the administration did not prioritize the defense of the United States over the years. We must have the shield or umbrella Ronald Reagan was talking about. Israelis have something that, together with our support, helps them stop Iranian terrorist attacks. It is time now for America to develop our defense. U.S. taxpayers are paying for the defense.

Jerry
Jerry
17 days ago

This is a shameful state of affairs. The Bible says that because of our sins God will break the pride in our power.

Robert Zuccaro
Robert Zuccaro
17 days ago

Drone attack? Thanks to Biden, we can’t even defend the country against BALLOONS! We better start thinking about opening shipyards and finding/training workers to build them.

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
17 days ago

Need Mobile Laser Units,
Fixed Laser Units
Sonic disrupters
for Defense

Leslie
Leslie
17 days ago

We must have a bunch of “extra” missiles, because they are using them in Ukraine-to attack Russia!! Whoever is behind the green curtain running the government in Oz (Not Biden that’s for sure) is trying to get us into WW3 before January. Then blame it on Trump.

Tidewater
Tidewater
17 days ago

No single person should have authority over military, slash anything, fail to do his or her job, and if so, WTF does Congress do – sit on their thumbs?

KEN KING
KEN KING
17 days ago

WE CAN NOT STOP DRONS FROM DESTROYING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE DISABABELING THE INTIRE COUNTY IN A MASS ATTACT OF THEM DISABLING THEM AND DESTROYING OUR ABILITY TO FIGHTING BACK OR KNOWING WHO TO ATTACK .

Michael J
Michael J
16 days ago

The recent missile tech given to Ukraine further escalating Biden’s proxy war is an attempt to get the United States into a real war before President Trump can take office. Declaring Martial Law would be a sure way for democrats to circumvent presidential transfer of power and remain in power.The left has desperately tried everything to keep Trump out of office, is this too far fetched?

A row of supercomputers running simulations of quantum cryptography algorithms to test their efficiency and effectiveness
President Joe Biden, son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden walk across the South Lawn of The White House on July 28, 2024 in Washington, DC. President Biden is returning from a weekend trip to Camp David. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Dana White during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City.

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