A Ukrainian soldier uses a drone in Donbas, Ukraine, on August 13, 2025. US homeland defense requires empowering the private sector to protect its assets from potential drone and cyber attacks, write Glen VanHerck and Ramon Marks. (Shutterstock/Jose Hernandez Camera 51)

Why the US Must Expand Air Defense Authority to the Private Sector

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The private sector needs the tools to defend itself from unconventional drone or cyber threats.

Moscow recently signaled a major shift in its defense strategy: Russian commercial enterprises must take responsibility for defending their own facilities against mounting drone attacks. While some might view this mainly as a sign of Moscow’s desperation in its war with Ukraine, Western leaders should take it as a clear warning—warfare has changed dramatically. Physical and digital battle spaces are no longer confined to the front lines. Drones, missiles, and cyberattacks can now reach everywhere. There are no geographic sanctuaries. Local communities, supply chains, and private power grids all have become fair game, no matter the distance.

During one of the authors’ years commanding North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), the primary operational focus was homeland defense. Yet he realized and warned that the two oceans no longer adequately protect the homeland. Potential foes, including nonstate actors equipped with drones, cyber, and/or missiles, can now readily strike the commercial heartbeat of our nation. Manufacturing, water supply, transportation, the electric grid, nuclear reactors, and communications or data networks are all exposed and vulnerable.

Congress has already taken a major step to help address this by passing the Safer Skies Act. It expands authority to address these threats at the state and municipal police and law-enforcement levels. That new law........

© The National Interest