美国正开始应对美国领土上的无人机入侵，但这种反应与日益增长的无人机威胁并不匹配，而这种威胁可能会进一步恶化。
2025 年，美国在南部边界追踪到了 34,000 架无人机，较 2024 年显著增加。
2024 年底，有报道称在新泽西州、纽约州和宾夕法尼亚州出现了大规模的无人机目击事件。政府辩称，其中一些目击事件是由于公众误将获授权的飞行识别错误所致，但军事官员表示，在皮卡汀尼兵工厂等敏感地点上空存在同时发生的未经授权入侵模式。
位于皮卡汀尼的美国陆军作战能力发展司令部（DEVCOM）军械中心是“黄金之盾计划”（Project Golden Shields）等项目的主要合作者，陆军在该计划中正在开发自主反无人机系统和传感器。“黄金之盾”旨在通过自动化响应链来解决“无人机蜂群”和大流量空中威胁的问题。这是一个非常活跃的项目，最近由第一骑兵师在德克萨斯州胡德堡进行了测试。“黄金之盾”将是美国主要对手的高优先级目标。
在德克萨斯州胡德堡举行的第一骑兵师“黄金之盾”演习期间，珀尔修斯防御公司（Perseus Defense）的“哈耳庇厄”（Harpe）导弹进行了试射。
在美国战略军事基地，无人机威胁一直挥之不去，包括巴克斯代尔空军基地、兰利空军基地以及位于华盛顿特区的麦克奈尔堡，战争部长彼得·赫格塞斯（Pete Hegseth）和国务卿马可·卢比奥（Marco Rubio）均居住于此。
今年 3 月，五角大楼在一个未披露的战略地点紧急部署了一套“便携式”（Fly Away）反无人机套件。
贩毒集团
南部边境的无人机入侵以及在边境 500 米（1,600 英尺）范围内的行动被归咎于墨西哥贩毒集团，主要是锡那罗亚贩毒集团（Sinaloa Cartel）和哈利斯科新一代贩毒集团（CJNG）。
早期的 CJNG 无人机炸弹（如 2017 年的这款）是胶贴在无人机上的。现在，它们已经能够投掷手榴弹。
墨西哥贩毒集团深入参与毒品贸易、跨境人口走私以及其他违法活动。
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
