On December 2 Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III signed a classified Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems. The strategy unifies the Department's approach to countering these systems that looks across domains, characteristics, and timeframes.
Unmanned systems pose both an urgent and enduring threat to U.S. personnel, facilities, and assets overseas. Unmanned aerial systems, most commonly known as drones, pose the most significant threat at this time and increasingly in the US homeland. These threats are changing how wars are fought. By producing a singular Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems, the Secretary and the Department are orienting around a common understanding of the challenge and a shared approach to addressing it.
The strategy builds on other major DoD initiatives, including the standup of the Joint Counter-Small UAS Office, the establishment of a Warfighter Senior Integration Group to meet urgent operational needs, and the launch of the Replicator 2 initiative to defend against the threats of small aerial systems at our most critical installations and force concentrations. The recent designation of the Commanders of NORTHCOM and INDOPACOM as the lead synchronizers for operations to counter-UAS in the homeland also ensures a cohesive approach to this challenge.
Focusing on the near-term problem is not enough. The Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems helps set the Department's gaze beyond the "five-meter target" to threats we may see in the future, acknowledging the rapid evolution of these capabilities.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III stated, "In recent years, adversary unmanned systems have evolved rapidly. These cheap systems are increasingly changing the battlefield, threatening U.S. installations, and wounding or killing our troops."
To get after this threat, I directed the swift development of a classified, comprehensive, Department-wide strategy. It lays out a roadmap for countering the threat of adversary unmanned systems – today and far into the future.
Drones and other unmanned systems will increasingly transform the security environment. Tackling these threats will not be easy. But the United States military is unrivaled in our ability to adapt to new challenges, and the Department is moving out on making this strategy's vision a reality. The character of war is changing, and we will change with it."
Click here to see the unclassified fact sheet on the DoD Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems.