Homeland Defense Is No Longer Theoretical

For two decades, homeland defense lived mostly in briefing slides and contingency binders. Fighters on alert. Missile warning on standby. A background mission. That posture is changing. Senior Air Force and Space Force leaders are now openly describing defense of the U.S. homeland against peer threats as an urgent, present-day priority. The shift has been laid out in congressional testimony, service-level strategy, and new operational structures tied directly to North American defense.

A Strategic Pivot in Plain Sight

This is homeland defense in the military sense, the NORTHCOM and NORAD mission of protecting U.S. territory from external attack, not the domestic security portfolio of the Department of Homeland Security.

In May 2025 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin warned that the United States faces “unprecedented threats to our homeland,” adding, “This is not just a future challenge. It is today’s reality.” He placed homeland defense at the top of the service’s priorities, stating, “First, we must defend the homeland,” as he outlined the need to detect, track, and defeat increasingly sophisticated missile and air threats. Those remarks marked a clear signal that the Air Force is re-emphasizing continental defense after two decades focused largely on expeditionary wars.

The threat picture driving that shift is broad. Senior commanders have pointed to air and missile threats, including cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons, as part of a modern threat set capable of reaching North America. In a posture hearing on U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, Gen. Gregory Guillot described hypersonics as “perhaps the most destabilizing threat” because of their maneuverability and unpredictable flight paths. He also warned that adversaries are advancing rapidly, telling lawmakers, “We cannot pause at all because the adversary … are growing very, very quickly.”

Those statements reflect growing concern that long-range conventional strike capabilities are eroding the sense of geographic sanctuary once assumed by the United States.

Space as the First Layer of Defense

Space has become central to that conversation. Missile warning, tracking, communications, and navigation systems in orbit now underpin much of the homeland defense architecture. The creation of U.S. Space Forces Northern in January 2026 formalized that role. The new component aligns the Space Force directly with U.S. Northern Command, the combatant command responsible for defending the continental United States.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman described the mission plainly during the activation ceremony: “Space Forces Northern is poised to bring the most advanced space capabilities to bear … to ensure NORTHCOM can deter, detect, deny, and defeat any threats to the homeland.” He added, “There is no higher calling than protecting your neighbors, your families, and your homeland from harm.” NORTHCOM commander Gen. Guillot emphasized the operational side, noting that space capabilities will support “enhanced domain awareness; missile warning and tracking; positioning, navigation and timing; satellite communications; and the capacity for orbital and electromagnetic warfare.”

Those functions illustrate how homeland defense is increasingly tied to contested space operations. Senior leaders have warned that defending the United States will depend in part on protecting satellites and maintaining resilient space-based sensing and communications. Without reliable space support, early warning and missile-defense systems would face significant gaps.

Layered Defense and Emerging Concepts

Congressional hearings have also reflected renewed focus on layered homeland defense concepts. During a 2025 hearing, lawmakers discussed emerging initiatives aimed at strengthening detection and interception capabilities, including proposals sometimes referred to as a “Golden Dome” for missile defense. The concept envisions integrating ground-based, airborne, and space-based systems to provide earlier warning and more options for intercepting incoming threats. While still under discussion, the idea underscores how seriously senior leaders are treating the evolving threat environment.

The emphasis on homeland defense does not mean the Air and Space Forces are abandoning their global roles. Instead, the services appear to be adjusting to a strategic environment in which threats can originate from far beyond traditional front lines. Long-range weapons and advanced sensing systems allow adversaries to project power directly against North America without deploying large conventional forces near U.S. borders.

A Return to Continental Defense

That reality is shaping budgets, force design, and operational planning. Modernization of missile warning systems, improvements to domain awareness, and closer integration between NORAD, NORTHCOM, and the Space Force all point to a more layered and technologically complex approach to defending the homeland.