DEFENSE Act
Key claim: The DEFENSE Act would authorize DHS and DOJ to deputize trained state and local law enforcement to detect, track, disrupt, and disable threatening drones at stadiums and large public gatherings protected by FAA temporary flight restrictions.
Abstract
(S663 · 119th Congress) Disabling Enemy Flight Entry and Neutralizing Suspect Equipment Act or the DEFENSE Act This bill allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Justice (DOJ) to deputize state or local law enforcement officers to take certain drone countermeasures to protect stadiums and other public gatherings. Specifically, DHS or DOJ may provide state or local law enforcement officers with the authority to identify, monitor, and track drones; warn drone operators; disrupt or take control of drones; or use reasonable force to disable, damage, and seize or destroy drones deemed to pose a threat. This authority applies for the purposes of protecting an event, stadium, or venue; certain large public gatherings (e.g., gatherings that are primarily outdoors with an estimated attendance of at least 100,000 people); or other public gatherings protected by specific temporary flight restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Prior to being deputized, a state or local law enforcement officer must complete training in the use of the drone countermeasure authority. DHS or DOJ, in coordination with the Department of Transportation and the FAA, must exercise oversight over the use of this authority by deputized state or local law enforcement officers. Finally, the bill limits the equipment authorized for detecting, identifying, monitoring, or tracking drones to systems or technologies that are included on a list of authorized equipment maintained by DHS, in coordination with DOJ, the FAA, the Federal Communications Commission, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Latest action (2025-02-20): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Why this matters
Federal counter-UAS authority to disable drones is tightly restricted by statute to a small set of agencies, leaving stadium operators and local police without lawful mitigation tools despite growing incursions. The DEFENSE Act would create the first structured deputization pathway for SLTT counter-drone operations, changing what equipment vendors can sell into the state/local market, what training and oversight platforms must support, and what protections spectators can expect at large public events.