Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), known as drones, have become an increasing threat since the first attempt to fly an armed drone into the United States Capitol in 2012. Terrorists, organized crime and thrill-seekers now pose a significant danger to government facilities, operations and the U.S. homeland, according to testimony from top officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in July 2025.
The top priority for defense and national security officials is gaining Congressional approval for an extension and strengthening of federal law concerning drone production and use. “Conflict zones across the globe, such as in the Ukraine and the Middle East, are the new proving grounds for innovative drone tactics and technological developments, and the implementations are only limited by an operator’s imagination,” said Steven Willoughby, director of the counter unmanned aircraft systems program management office in the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, part of the DHS.
“Air supremacy is no longer determined by fighter jets and helicopters but rather a combination of traditional assets and unmanned systems, reshaping the way frontline troops are attacking and defending. These evolutions of drone tactics in theaters abroad are quickly finding their way to our backyard and across the homeland, posing significant challenges for law enforcement officers and regulators,” Willoughby said,
Transnational criminal organizations (TCO) use drones to ferry drugs and other contraband across the Mexico-U.S. border, Willoughby told committee members. In the last six months of 2024, U.S. authorities detected more than 27,000 UAS within 500 meters of the border, most flying above 400 feet — the highest legal altitude allowed for drones in either Mexico or the U.S. They mostly fly at night to hide their location. During the same period in 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, along with other agencies, seized more than 544 kilograms of fentanyl, methamphetamine and other narcotics transported by UAS, Willoughby said. The marked upswing in UAS activity, Willoughby testified, is a “clear indicator that TCOs are adopting the use of drones into their tactics as a means of surveilling and evading CBP agents and officers and other law enforcement.”
The U.S. military has responded to the threat. This year, U.S. Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division deployed in Arizona to track UAS and illegal migration near the southern border, countering attempts by Mexican cartels that recently were designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations. The Soldiers used ground-based radar to detect drone activity and transmit that intelligence to CBP.
Willoughby noted that drones have almost unlimited potential to benefit the U.S. and its military, citing the obvious capabilities that UAS can bring to a wide range of commercial, private and government activities, including military uses. A recent example includes an Army exercise during Swift Response 2025, a multinational NATO exercise held in May in Lithuania. During that operation, Army medics safely slashed the amount of time taken to deliver critical blood supplies to a battlefield scenario.
But the rising tide of hostile, dangerous or suspicious incidents requires an overhaul of federal law to better defend the country, said Christopher Hardee, chief of the DOJ’s Office of Law and Policy, Security Division, and Michael Torphy, the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group’s unit chief. “As the United States seeks to lead the world by integrating unmanned aviation into the national airspace, Congress should build security into the frameworks that support UAS integration by ensuring that those responsible for protecting the public have the authority, training, and safe and effective technology they need. Integration and security must go together if we are to be successful,” they said in a prepared statement at the July 22 hearing. Currently, a fatal drone attack doesn’t result in serious penalty, they testified. “Drone intrusions by terrorists and spies upon national defense airspace to surveil potential targets or obtain intelligence about military or space capabilities and readiness are merely misdemeanors,” they stated.