The US is starting to respond to drone incursions on US territory, but the response does not match the growing threats from drones, which are likely to get worse.
In 2025, the US tracked 34,000 drones along the southern border, a significant increase over 2024.
Late in 2024 there were reports of mass sightings of drones across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The government argued that some of these sightings were caused by public misidentifications of authorized flights but military officials said there was a concurrent pattern of unauthorized incursions over sensitive sites such as the Picatinny Arsenal.
The DEVCOM Armaments Center at Picatinny is a lead collaborator on projects like Project Golden Shields where the Army is developing autonomous counter drone systems and sensors. Golden Shield is designed to solve the problem of “drone swarms” and high-volume aerial threats by automating the response chain. This is a very active program which was recently tested at Ft. Hood, Texas by the 1st Cavalry Division. Golden Shields would be a high priority target of America’s top adversaries.
Perseus Defense Harpe missile is test-fired during the 1st Cavalry Division’s Golden Shield exercise at Fort Hood, Texas.
There have been persistent drone threats at US strategic military bases including Barksdale AFB, Langley AF base and Ft. McNair in Washington DC where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reside.
In March the Pentagon urgently deployed a “Fly Away” counter-drone kit at an undisclosed strategic location.
Cartels
The southern border drone incursion and operations within 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the border are attributed to Mexican cartels, mainly to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Earlier CJNG drone bombs like this one from 2017 were taped to the drone. Now they are capable of dropping grenades.
Mexican cartels are heavily involved in the drug trade, in human smuggling across the border, in other scams including “shadow taxes” on avocado farming and lime production and in cargo theft. While technically non-state actors, the cartels have gross incomes exceeding that of many a country. The combined revenues of the cartels are greater than the Kingdom of Jordan or Tunisia. Cartel revenues combined are estimated between $40 and $50 billion annually.
The cartels are using drones primarily for surveillance and for smuggling, and more recently for military strike operations. The cartels have full access to Chinese drone technology and “adapt” commercial drones for high value operations, adding secure communications.
Using 3D-printing, cartels have modified larger commercial platforms (like agricultural sprayers or heavy-lift hex copters) to carry and drop multiple IEDs or mortar rounds in a single flight. Inspired by tactics learned in Ukraine, cartels now use high-speed First-Person View (FPV) drones equipped with contact-fused explosives. These are highly maneuverable and can be flow