L3Harris says nationwide U.S. air traffic surveillance network offers homeland-defense head start against drones and cruise missiles

L3Harris proposed adapting the United States’ existing civil air-traffic surveillance network to help detect drones, low-flying aircraft, and cruise missiles. The infrastructure spans the continental states, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico, with more than 750 radio sites, 36 weather stations, 12 regional control centres, and over 225 service-delivery locations. Its Enterprise Surveillance Manager already fuses radar, ADS-B, and multilateration data, while added passive radar or software-defined active arrays could improve tracking of noncooperative targets. L3Harris cites 99.99971% network availability, but the homeland-defence concept remains a company proposal without an announced government programme.