A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a strategy to field an integrated air defense system to bolster the capability of NATO to defeat unmanned aerial systems and deter Russian aggression, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3262 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3262

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a strategy 
to field an integrated air defense system to bolster the capability of 
 NATO to defeat unmanned aerial systems and deter Russian aggression, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 20, 2025

 Mr. Bennet (for himself and Ms. Ernst) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a strategy 
to field an integrated air defense system to bolster the capability of 
 NATO to defeat unmanned aerial systems and deter Russian aggression, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. INTEGRATED NATO AIR DEFENSE AGAINST UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 
Secretary of State, shall engage the Secretary General of NATO and 
relevant policymakers of NATO countries to develop and implement a 
strategy to rapidly field a multi-layered, integrated air defense 
system that would bolster allied air defense capabilities to defeat 
unmanned aerial systems and deter Russian aggression against NATO, 
particularly against the alliance's eastern flank members, including 
Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.
    (b) Elements.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall--
            (1) identify existing gaps in the defense efforts of NATO 
        against unmanned aerial systems, particularly with regard to--
                    (A) impediments to using mass-produced, low-cost 
                effectors, such as improved ammunition and rockets, 
                against low-cost unmanned aerial systems, which risk 
                requiring NATO to use expensive, high-cost weaponry, 
                thereby depleting NATO stocks in a non-economical 
                manner;
                    (B) impediments to using next-generation 
                technologies, such as artificial intelligence and high-
                power microwave weapons, to better coordinate defense 
                responses; and
                    (C) impediments to allied command and control, 
                multilateral coordination, leveraging of shared 
                facilities, and enhancing operability;
            (2) describe current United States contributions to NATO 
        air defense and identify future actions to be taken over the 
        next five years by the Department of Defense--
                    (A) to enhance the ability of NATO to produce, at 
                scale, low-cost effectors, such as improved ammunition 
                and rockets, to defeat low-cost unmanned aerial 
                systems;
                    (B) to enhance the ability of NATO to develop next-
                generation technologies to defeat low-cost unmanned 
                aerial systems, particularly artificial intelligence 
                and high-power microwave weapons, to better coordinate 
                defense responses; and
                    (C) to expand the production by NATO of mass-
                produced, low-cost unmanned aerial systems, including 
                through cooperation with Ukraine, given Ukraine's 
                demonstrated expertise in the production of low-cost 
                unmanned aerial systems; and
            (3) describe actions that NATO and specific NATO allies, 
        including the United States, should take over the next five 
        years--
                    (A) to solve the impediments described in 
                subsection (b)(1); and
                    (B) to achieve the goals described in subsection 
                (b)(2).
    (c) Submission.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees the strategy required by 
subsection (a), including an identification of--
            (1) any changes to funding or policy required to bolster 
        NATO's multi-layered, integrated air defense against unmanned 
        aerial systems; and
            (2) any additional resources required to carry out the 
        specific initiatives described in subsection (b).
    (d) Interim Report on Implementation.--Not later than March 15, 
2027, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the progress made in implementing 
the strategy required by subsection (a), including any gaps in 
resources or authorities identified in the ability of the Department of 
Defense to implement the strategy.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the congressional defense committees; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
                House of Representatives.
            (2) NATO.--The term ``NATO'' means the North Atlantic 
        Treaty Organization.
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