American Foreign Policy Council

We’ve Lost Control of Our Air Space

September 19, 2025 Chloe E. Smith, Peter Garretson American Foreign Policy Council
Related Categories: Military Innovation; Science and Technology; Warfare; SPACE; China; Iran

The proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, represents a critical threat to U.S. national security. From their potential to attack critical infrastructure to their capacity to disrupt civilian and military operations, drones have reshaped the battlefield and eroded the notion of secure airspace. This paper argues that without immediate legal and technological reforms, the U.S. will remain vulnerable to adversarial drone incursions that exploit current jurisdictional and strategic gaps in our existing system...

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