As the world grapples with rapidly evolving security challenges, the United States is recalibrating its military and diplomatic strategies in the Middle East and beyond, seeking to address the twin threats of drone warfare and regional instability. Recent moves by Washington reveal a determined push to bolster counter-drone capabilities at home while maintaining a delicate balance of military presence and influence in Iraq and Syria.
On the home front, the U.S. government has ramped up efforts to counter the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), a threat that has become increasingly complex in today’s battlefields. According to GOVCIO Media, President Donald Trump’s administration took decisive action in July 2025, allocating over $2 billion through the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill to fund counter-UAS programs and systems for both land and sea operations. This legislative move was quickly followed by a series of executive orders in June 2025 aimed at boosting domestic drone production and expanding the nation’s counter-UAS capabilities.
The White House, in a statement issued that June, underscored the urgency of the situation: “Burdensome red tape has hindered homegrown drone innovation and grounded progress in supersonic flight for generations. Today’s executive orders accelerate domestic drone innovation, secure supply chains, reduce reliance on adversarial nations, repeal regulations that stalled supersonic flight, and assert U.S. leadership in emerging aviation sectors.”
Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, echoed these sentiments, noting that “decades of regulatory gridlock have grounded advancements in drones, flying cars and supersonic flight in the U.S.” He argued that the new executive orders and a strategic shift in unmanned aircraft policy would “unleash a new era of American aviation dominance, fostering innovation, driving economic growth and protecting our national security.”
While these policy changes may sound sweeping, the urgency is grounded in real-world lessons. The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war has provided a sobering preview of modern drone warfare, with both sides deploying UAS to devastating effect. At the 2025 Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C., Brendan Gavin, general counsel of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, described a “very complex threat environment” created by advances in drone range and payload capacity. “It’s one thing to try to employ a counter-UAS system when you have a discrete amount of time, in a discrete place, like a large sporting event like the Super Bowl, and it’s quite another when you have persistent potential threats,” Gavin said.
The economics of modern drone warfare are particularly troubling for military planners. Gavin pointed out the unsustainable nature of spending millions to intercept drones that cost only thousands to produce. “We don’t have the magazine depth. We don’t have the defense industrial base producing the kind of munitions to keep up with that. We need to be thinking from a capabilities perspective about bringing in all of the technology that we can. The government is not going to be able to take the lead on the technology aspect of this,” he warned.
Military commanders are especially concerned about the exponential growth of small UAS threats, now supercharged by artificial intelligence and increased autonomy. Speaking at the 2025 AUSA convention in Washington, D.C., Col. Neal Lape, military deputy director of Fires at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army, said, “The small UAS threat is growing exponentially. It’s no longer just about short-range tactical weapons; overall increases in range and endurance tied with autonomy and artificial intelligence have produced tactical, even strategic results over the last year. Attacks are becoming increasingly complex, with small UAS used in coordinated attacks with cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles.”
Maj. Gen. David Stewart, director of the Joint Counter-Small UAS Office, emphasized the need for scalable, domestically produced UAS and counter-UAS capabilities. “We’ve now seen a big shift coming back to the homeland. We’re looking for capability that can be used in a kinetic sense, in the theater of combat, or maybe having the low-collateral type capabilities that you would use at home. Each one of the services is looking at how they might approach that problem set, and then there is collaboration along the way,” Stewart explained at the AUSA conference.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the U.S. is navigating a complicated landscape in Iraq, where the fight against the Islamic State (IS) continues to shape military deployments and diplomatic relations. On October 20, 2025, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that a small contingent of 250 to 350 U.S. military advisers and support personnel would remain at the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, the base adjacent to Baghdad airport, and the al-Harir air base in the north. This decision marks a shift from the original agreement, which called for a full U.S. withdrawal from Ain al-Asad by September 2025. However, “developments in Syria” required maintaining this small unit, as al-Sudani explained to journalists in Baghdad.
These advisers are tasked with supporting counter-IS surveillance and coordinating with U.S. forces at the al-Tanf base in Syria. The backdrop to this decision is the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive last December, which left a security vacuum and concerns about IS resurgence. Despite these risks, al-Sudani asserted, “The extremist group, which seized wide swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria a decade ago, no longer poses a significant threat inside Iraq.”
Iraq is also preparing for parliamentary elections in November 2025, a pivotal moment that will determine whether al-Sudani secures a second term. The prime minister was clear about his country’s priorities: “We put Iraq first, and we do not wish to act as a proxy for anyone. Iraq will not be a battlefield for conflicts.” His comments reflect Iraq’s ongoing effort to balance relations with both the United States and neighboring Iran, while avoiding entanglement in regional disputes.
Al-Sudani also called on the U.S. to resume negotiations with Iran, criticizing the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” approach as “counterproductive.” He stated, “Iran is an important and influential country that must be treated with respect and through direct dialogue.”
One sticking point in U.S.-Iraq relations remains the presence of Iran-backed militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Though the PMF was formally placed under Iraqi military control in 2016, it continues to operate with significant autonomy. The Iraqi parliament is currently considering legislation to formalize the relationship between the military and the PMF, a move that has drawn objections from Washington. Al-Sudani, sidestepping direct comment on the legislation, said his government’s program “includes disarmament and national dialogue to remove any justification for carrying weapons.” He encouraged all factions to either integrate into state institutions or participate in politics, adding, “Armed factions that have transformed into political entities have the constitutional right to participate” in the upcoming elections.
As the U.S. shores up its defenses at home and adapts its military posture abroad, the dual challenges of technological innovation and regional diplomacy remain tightly intertwined. The coming months will test whether these new strategies can deliver both security and stability in an era defined by rapid change and persistent uncertainty.