Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined the Department of Defenses’ top priorities. They include modernizing the nuclear triad and building an iron dome for the U.S., referring to the iron dome that defends Israel against aerial threats.
He noted that these and other homeland priorities will be reflected in the fiscal year 2026 defense budget and future defense budgets.
Hegseth emphasized that in addition to Europe the Indo-Pacific region is a key concern. The new Defense Secretary has met or will meet with leaders in Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and Japan. He said the focus there is maintaining a strategic advantage over China. “We want the future of the world to be free. “We’re confronting threats in real time, restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military, reestablishing deterrence,”
Hegseth’s priorities were reflected in the Congressional testimony of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command’s most senior leaders in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee
Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot told the committee that growing cooperation between our country’s global adversaries, evolving technologies in the hands of our competitors and the ongoing threat of non-state actors continuing to target the homeland all present real-world challenges. He noted that China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are cooperating together to challenge the U.S.
“While their cooperation does not approach the level of complete integration demonstrated by the United States and Canada, their transfer of weapons, military technology and basing access is a cause for significant concern,” Guillot told the committee.
He also said that associated risks to North America have continued to grow due to the level of incursions by Russian bomber aircraft into Alaskan and Canadian air defense zones having returned to levels not seen since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
” Russian Navy surface and subsurface vessels conducted out-of-area deployments off both U.S. coasts, including in the vicinity of Alaska,” he added.
On the topic of evolving technologies, Guillot said that rapid technological advancements have forced Northcom and NORAD to hurriedly adjust their defense posture. “Small, uncrewed aircraft systems … proliferate the open market; and in the hands of malign actors, pose a growing threat to safety and security,” Guillot added, giving the example that there were 350 UAS detections over a total 100 different U.S. military installations reported last year.
He said that roughly just half of U.S. installations fall under U.S. Code Section 130i, meaning they are considered “covered” installations and are allowed to defend themselves from UAS incursions.
There are currently nine criteria that can qualify a base as being eligible for “covered” status, with nuclear facilities, missile defense bases and test facilities being among them, Guillot explained.
“My request and proposal would be, as we look at 130i again, … to expand coverage to all military installations and not just those that are covered,” Guillot said, adding that he would like to see the range of self-defense extend beyond installation boundaries so that threats can be dealt with before reaching those boundaries.
Addressing the threat that non-state actors pose to the homeland, Guillot said radical Islamic terrorist groups have rejuvenated and are inspiring lone-wolf attacks such as the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans last month.
Guillot also described how Mexico-based, transnational criminal cartels are a threat to U.S. territorial integrity and the safety of U.S. citizens.
“With that strategic backdrop, homeland defense is our commands’ top priority and essential task, and in mindset and action, nobody waits on NORAD or Northcom,” Guillot said before proceeding to list numerous examples of how both commands have been addressing the challenges he listed.
Guillot explained that, over the past 12 months, NORAD and Northcom have intercepted joint Chinese and Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska, detected and assessed numerous North Korean missile launches and tracked Russian surface vessels off both coasts.
He said they have also supported natural disaster victims throughout the country and worked to counter transnational criminal networks at the border through the deployment of troops and “unique military capabilities” such as airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Photo: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels, Feb. 13, 2025. (DoD)