In recent weeks, top national security experts and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have spoken out about expensive and dangerous proposals to force the military to abandon vital spectrum for exclusive licensing by the Big Three cellular carriers. Instead, leaders expressed support for dynamic spectrum sharing models, which can open valuable bands for commercial use without interfering with mission-critical national security functions, including proposals for enhanced missile defense under an ‘iron’ or ‘golden’ dome.
“It’s time for new thinking. Military leaders have made it clear they are prepared to share key spectrum with a diverse array of users—so long as these commercial systems don’t interfere with operations or force the Pentagon to vacate vital frequencies. Now it’s up to Congress, the FCC, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to embrace spectrum sharing as the only reasonable solution to the country’s current spectrum stalemate.”
Rob Lyman, Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force (Retired), March 4, 2025
“I agree with my colleagues that we need to dominate next-generation wireless technologies to stay ahead of our adversaries and advance strong economic growth … Unfortunately, when it comes to how to reach that goal, some are willing to sell Department of Defense (DOD) capabilities for short term economic gain. This would be just as disastrous to our national security in the long run as not developing our 5G networks.”
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), February 26, 2025
“[I]n terms of being able to detect and intercept missiles… we’re going to have to be thoughtful about how we use spectrum. We’ve talked a lot about sharing and technologies and… I would believe that the Administration is going to continue to work that out.”
John Sherman, Former Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, and Dean of the Bush School, February 25, 2025
“DoD losing access to its spectrum bands entirely, which is what vacating or clearing spectrum means, comes with huge risks and will end up costing us more. Replacing national security systems, if that is even possible, would cost hundreds of billions of dollars and we all know it would take decades to be able to finish. So, a pipeline estimated to raise by CBO based on current proposals between $10 and $15 billions in a 10-year budget window may actually take 20 years to transition.”
U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), February 19, 2025
“When we get the military in the SCIF [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility] – and I’m not giving away any secrets – they say it’s absolutely impossible, we can’t give an inch and anything the chairman might advocate is detrimental to national security.”
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), February 19, 2025
“I think China could be playing a very sophisticated game here where they’re looking to get us to vacate parts of the spectrum that we need for our military sensors, while they retain that access. So, we unilaterally disarm while they are able to retain their capabilities. Because, as I said before, they have the ability to move commercial users out of the spectrum basically whenever they need to for their routine government purposes.”
Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow and Direct, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, Hudson Institute, February 19, 2025
“To properly employ all those systems, we would have to have uninterrupted and complete access to the entire spectrum… compromising that part of the spectrum is a significant concern to me and the systems necessary for Homeland defense.”
USAF General Gregory Guillot, Commander, United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, February 13, 2025