Pentagon Bets on Nets and Perimeter Shields in New Counter-Drone Guidance

The Pentagon’s new guidance for protecting critical infrastructure from drones urges passive physical defenses—such as nets, cables, and hardened openings—within a Harden-Obscure-Perimeter (HOP) framework, as part of a layered counter-UAS approach coordinated by JIATF-401. It expands authorities for base commanders and aims to protect civilian sites and large events like the World Cup, while stressing that hardening is not a silver bullet and must be paired with active defenses. The guidance also references a counter-UAS marketplace for procuring barriers and interceptors and notes evolving international trends in base protection and ongoing industry efforts.