Army secretary says drones pose "threat of humanity's lifetime"

Washington — Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said Sunday that drones pose "the threat of humanity's lifetime," as officials have warned of escalating aerial security risks. But he said he's hopeful about the U.S.' approach.

"If you look at the speed and scale of the devastation that can come from drones, we as a federal government have got to lead on it," Driscoll said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." "But I'm really optimistic. This is actually something we are doing right."

Driscoll outlined that the U.S. Army has been put in charge of the counter-drone threat for the Pentagon, and is working "hand in glove with the law enforcement agencies." 

"What we are trying to do — because this problem is different from nearly anything faced in a long time — is a flying IED," Driscoll said, referring to Improvised Explosive Devices. "They're cheap, you can 3D-print them at home, and they cross borders incredibly quickly."

The comments come after Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS News last week that the threat to military sites and large civilian gatherings "is severe and growing," citing evidence of persistent drone incursions and gaps in law enforcement authorities.

Last year, there were more than 350 unauthorized drone flights over about 100 military installations, according to the Defense Department, along with more than 27,000 drones detected within 500 meters of the U.S. southern border in the last half of 2024. Meanwhile, the number of unauthorized flights during sporting events went down slightly last year, although the overall trend is continuing to move upward, according to NFL data.

Driscoll said the Army is working with law enforcement agencies at borders and ports, and at major events like upcoming NFL games, the Olympics and the World Cup.

"This is something we as a nation can lead on," Driscoll said. "And so under President Trump's leadership, we are moving fast at this problem."

Driscoll said "the problem with the drone fight is you need all sorts of layered defense," and he outlined that there are different authorities "when you're doing it in your own homeland."

"A lot of this is a human problem of communication, command and control, and having a layered set of solutions that you can use for any given problem," he added.

When it comes to regulating drones, Driscoll said he's "pretty optimistic that we will be able to figure out a solution where we will know what is in the sky at every moment across our country, all at once."

Driscoll said "we are trying to design a system so that Americans are able to fly drones," along with commercial companies like Amazon. Citing the future of delivery in commercial drones, Driscoll said, "we will just have to deconflict the skies, working with the FAA."

"What is amazing about our country is we are able to recognize where we need to innovate quickly," Driscoll said. "What we're doing for drones, completely differently, I think than we have done as an arm in probably 50 or 60 years, is we're welcoming in American industry."

On competition with China, which currently dominates commercial drone production, Driscoll said he expects to catch up.

"What we are going to do is we are going to invest in things like sensors and brushless motors and circuit boards and a lot of the components that are really hard for the private sector to get right now, the United States Army is going to build those on our bases and empower the private sector to purchase from us," he said. "And so we will make drones. Our private partners will make drones, and we will catch up and surpass the Chinese incredibly quickly."

Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.