Three-star Air Force general warns US must prepare for ‘limitless number of UAS type of threats’ to homeland security

Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the greatest homeland security threats facing the United States are capable of striking American soil without a pilot.The anniversary of the tragedy has stirred a sense of urgency in the mind of Lt. Gen. Luke Ahmann, a three-star general officer who is preparing for retirement from the U.S. Air Force. Having been in the air on the morning of the attacks and later in his career charged with commanding First Air Force’s air sovereignty operations in the continental U.S., Ahmann is keenly aware of the threats the contiguous U.S. faces from unmanned aircraft systems.“There’s a limitless number of UAS type of threats that are concerning. There are things happening to start to figure out how to counter those and do that in a cost-effective way, but we’re certainly not there yet,” he warned in an interview with the Washington Examiner. The Goodyear blimp flies next to the One World Trade Center skyscraper as seen from the Hudson River during the naval review of military ships, Saturday, July 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Prior to 9/11, homeland security was preeminently concerned with distinctly Soviet-era threats like gravity bombs dropped without propulsion from enemy airplanes or intercontinental ballistic missiles outfitted with thermonuclear warheads. Following the 2001 attacks, that posture expanded toward preventing attacks similar to those that struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — aviation vulnerabilities and attacks by foreign terrorist organizations operating within U.S. borders.But rapid advancements in the area of tactical drones and UAS have expanded the spectrum of vulnerabilities once again.“If it’s a pop-up type [attack] that we have very little indications and warning in a location where fighters aren’t necessarily co-located — which is a lot because […] there’s only 14 locations that have them — then you’re in a challenging spot to be able to to respond and be effective, even if we scrambled jets,” Ahmann said. “It’s a little bit of a crapshoot to know that they could get there in time to have the effect that we would want them to have, which is to shoot down all the UASs.”He insists that he is not stating any concern that military officials are not already aware of, but is advocating “accelerating” the issue to quickly meet the nation’s security gaps with sensors, effectors, passive and kinetic interceptors, and other cutting-edge infrastructure.An official at U.S. Strategic Command previously told the Washington Examiner that Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine’s shockingly effective drone attack against Russian fighter aircraft last year, was an “utterly eye-opening” moment for U.S. officials. Ukraine smuggled a cache of drones deep into Russian territory on a truck driven by a driver without knowledge of the operation. Upon arrival, a swarm of drones deployed from the vehicle and destroyed dozens of Russian aircraft in an attack that U.S. officials “still even talk about today.”The U.S. remains dominant in “high-end” military technology. It is this low-end, cheap, and highly versatile weaponry being deployed in places like Ukraine and the Middle East that presents a problem.In this photo provided by Ukraine’s 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade, drones are prepared to be fired towards Russian positions at a shelter in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23, 2025. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP, File) A notable aspect of these emerging weapons systems is the low cost of use. Cheap and disposable, UAS and combat drones are capable of striking military targets and military infrastructure for pennies compared to the U.S. military’s high-end, high-price arsenal of weaponry. Spending millions to shoot down incoming weapons worth a few hundred dollars will put the U.S. on the wrong end of the price curve.Additionally, some once high-end assets still being used by the U.S. military are simply outdated for modern needs.Air Force Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier provided a bleak assessment of the service’s readiness outlook in July, calling it “older, smaller, and less ready than it needs to be to defend the homeland and deter aggression in the Pacific.”Nearly half of the Air Force fleet is more than 40 years old, and more than 60% of its aircraft are more than 30 years old. There are 10 types of aircraft still in service in the fleet that first flew more than 50 years ago.“Pre-block F-16s are a great example,” Ahmann said. “That old F-16 is a great airplane. It’s the airplane that I cut my teeth in for 20-some odd years. But that should show you how old it is if my entire career I [piloted] that one airplane that we’re still relying upon. And it’s the oldest aircraft in the inventory.”Lt. Gen. Luke Ahmann, commander of the Continental U.S. NORAD Region, completes his final flight (“fini-flight”) during a visit to the 138th Fighter Wing at Tulsa Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma, Aug. 19, 2026. As the Combined/Joint Force Air Component Commander, Ahmann directs air defense and air sovereignty operations across the continental United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Oklahoma Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. CT Michael) The domestic U.S. has not suffered a mass-casualty attack from foreign-operated drones, but the proliferation of the technology has already forced confrontations.The FBI thwarted a planned attack targeting the UFC fight at the White House in July, and there were hundreds of drones intercepted during this year’s World Cup that primarily took place in the U.S.Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, speculated in 2024 that there has been “thousands” of drone incursions into U.S. airspace per month. Last month, Northern Command was forced to deploy a Multipurpose High Energy Laser to take down Mexican drones in U.S. airspace near the border and saw a 75% reduction in incursions.Ahmann hopes that initiatives currently underway to address the UAS deficit will learn from the multilayered systems currently being operated by Ukraine and Israel, with an emphasis on defensive capabilities.“Even in some of the demonstrations that I’ve seen, a combination of different systems that are all linked together with the proper command and control — so that you can deconflict fires, so that you’re not all going after the same threat and you can sort out who’s shooting what — is what’s been most effective,” Ahmann said. “That includes everything from ballistic missiles all the way to group 3 UASs and cruise missiles.”He insisted that it’s “not all a doomsday scenario,” seeing “momentum in this effort” particularly from President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome project.The Golden Dome, which Trump announced last year, is designed to improve homeland defense against ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missile threats through a layered system of ground-, air-, and space-based sensors designed to detect, track, and intercept incoming projectiles.Golden Dome director, Gen. Michael Guetlein, has acknowledged that drone threats will also be a key part of that infrastructure.President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on May 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) During a congressional hearing in April, Guetlein told the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, “We have traditionally focused on the intercontinental ballistic missile threat, and have not really thought enough about the cruise missile, the hypersonic missile, the ballistic missiles from air or from sea, nor now what we are seeing the expanding counter [drone] threat.”“The Golden Dome is the cornerstone of our homeland defense posture. It is a necessary and pragmatic response to the growing threat posed by ballistic, hypersonic, and advanced cruise missiles, as well as next-generation aerial weapons. Nuclear deterrence, complemented by the golden dome, remains the cornerstone of U.S. deterrence strategy,” Marc Berkowitz, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, told lawmakers at the same hearing.Earlier this year, Guetlein said the project would cost an estimated $185 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $175 billion. A Congressional Budget Office report from May found that the Golden Dome could cost upward of $1.2 trillion to build and operate for 20 years, an evaluation that Guetlein disputed.‘CUTTING BUREAUCRATIC RED TAPE’: GOLDEN DOME OFFICE CREATES WEBSITE FOR INDUSTRY INPUTSecretary of War Pete Hegseth announced in December the Drone Dominance Program, which is designed to help the Pentagon meet its drone needs. Specifically, the program’s goal is to purchase more than 200,000 drones by 2027.Last month, the senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, Sebastian Gorka, told drone producers during an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building that “big legacy companies” that can’t meet the moment “will die, like the dinosaurs.”Mike Brest contributed to this report.