Service members deployed overseas are increasingly facing threats from these uncrewed systems, too. The three American soldiers targeted in an attack in Jordan this January lost their lives to a small Iranian UAS. These systems have become a significant security problem, for which the U.S. military has minimal countermeasures. Iran’s attack on Israel this month only underscored the threat. In classified briefings and open settings, our committee has examined the threat posed by high-altitude craft and low-altitude drones. We discovered a series of underlying issues complicating an effective response to them. The first problem is that our nation lacks adequate drone detection capability. We still rely on the early warning radars that served us so well during the Cold War. Today, though, they are unable to detect, identify and track small aircraft at both high and low altitudes. Inside the United States, we can hardly track anything other than commercial aircraft. Almost none of our domestic military bases have the sensors to identify small drones.

Well, same goes for low-flying cruise missiles. Most of them fly much faster than drones, many of them fly with supersonic speeds, if you know what I mean. Some of them fly with hypersonic speeds, high and attack vertically down. To face such a challenge--and it is a challenge, no one argues with that--one needs short to medium range AD systems and integrated with them EW complex. But, of course, having this:

Is out of the question, albeit the US managed to get one in Libya. But then again, it was first version of it. Latest Pantsirs differ dramatically from their first versions. But it is too little, too late anyway because one has to have a whole arsenal of means from modern AAA to the whole spectrum of missile AD systems. Meanwhile:

JERUSALEM — After 40 years in use to defend the nation, the Israel Defense Forces will soon say goodbye to their American-made Patriot air defense systems, the IDF announced Tuesday. The move comes as Israel’s indigenous defenses, notably the Iron Dome, Arrow and David’s Sling systems, increasingly take on the role of home defender. It also comes days after Israel’s systems and aircraft, along with help from American, French, British and Jordanian militaries, managed to stymie an Iranian broadside of drones and missiles. The Israel Air Force had first revealed the reduction in Israel’s use of the Patriot batteries in February when the air force said that “as part of the processes of operational efficiency in the Air Force, it was decided that several batteries of the ‘Yahlom’ (Patriot) system will go out of use and its personnel will undergo a several-week conversion to operate the Iron Dome defense system.” The Israeli Air Force said at the time that this would lead to the establishment of additional Iron Dome batteries.

I am sure SMO and the way Patriots (and other NATO AD systems) have been "dealing" with Russian missiles, especially hypersonic ones (we know that Patriots shoot them all down, none ever hits the target) has nothing to do with that, wink, wink. Plus, of course, those Iranian missiles which all, that's what ever honest reports tell us, have been intercepted. Of course, Iron Dome is useless against real enemy with advanced strike systems, plus Arrow (Boeing) and David's Sling (Raytheon and Israeli RAFAEL) are same ol', same ol' US systems. With David's Sling being... well, pretty much same glorified Patriot PAC3. All those systems are still useless against modern strike means especially speedy ones.Now, the question who will be the next batch of NATO "advisers" who will die in 404.