Protection of spectrum by Congress also protects Trump’s Iron Dome from shortsighted 5G policy

Our nation finds itself in a threat environment more complex than anything we have faced since at least the Second World War. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea all seek to undermine the United States’ position in the world and limit Western values. Their leaders’ destructive ambitions are clear. The Chinese Communist Party in particular wants to replace us as the leading force in the world, a geopolitical development that we all agree is unacceptable.    

Communist China is especially dangerous because, unlike other adversaries, it is able to compete with and potentially surpass the United States economically. Many of my colleagues in Congress have appropriately pointed out the urgency with which the United States needs to modernize our economy with the most state-of-the-art technology, a key component of which is building out a robust 5G telecommunications infrastructure. Information flow is increasingly central to our highly digitized economy, and the importance of a modern, optimized 5G telecommunications network is vital. 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. Economic power is military power — just ask the totalitarian adversaries the United States has left on the dust heap of history.

You will find no disagreement in the halls of Congress on the importance of building out America’s 5G infrastructure. Many are frustrated with the slow pace at which the Federal Communications Commission and Congress have been moving to restore spectrum auction authority and open up more spectrum bands for commercial use. 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. 

Many of our military’s most important radar systems operate on the 3.1-3.45 gigahertz (GHz) band of the spectrum, referred to as the lower-3 band. These radars are essential to homeland defense missions and protecting our troops overseas. Right now, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are conducting missile defense missions off the coasts of the United States and protecting our deployed forces in the Red Sea against sophisticated Houthi missile and drone attacks. The Navy’s Aegis Combat System relies heavily on the lower-3 band, using radars to track threats and guide weapons to targets. Forcing the DOD to vacate or share those portions of the spectrum would cost taxpayers dearly — the Navy alone estimates that it would cost them $250 billion to migrate their systems to other bands of the spectrum, and that would take time we do not have with the looming threat of a belligerent Communist China.

Furthermore, on January 27, 2025, President Trump issued a potentially game changing Executive Order directing the DOD to develop and build an “Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield for America.” Before the Senate Armed Services Committee this month, General Guillot, the Commander of Northern Command charged with protecting our homeland, confirmed that NORTHCOM needs unfettered access to portions of the spectrum, and that any Iron Dome for America concept is dead on arrival if the DOD has to vacate the lower-3 band and other crucial portions of the spectrum. In short, the binary choice many in the telecommunications industry are lobbying Congress to make would kill President Trump’s Iron Dome for America and continue to leave the U.S. homeland exposed to an array of long-range strike threats ranging from intercontinental ballistic missiles to cruise missiles to hypersonic weapons. The American people should not accept this. I agree with President Trump’s vision, and therefore want to safeguard the DOD spectrum necessary for developing and deploying an Iron Dome for America, ranging from point defense up to a space-based layer.

Advocates for restricting DOD’s use of the lower-3 band or portions of the 7 and 8 GHz band of spectrum argue that Communist China has been willing to build out some of their 5G infrastructure on those bands. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can arbitrarily turn off or blow out commercial use and infrastructure of any portion of the spectrum whenever they want with no recourse for civilian users, and provide their military primacy in spectrum use. Certainly, that is not a situation the U.S. telecommunications industry is interested in.

The telecommunications industry should abandon its quest to restrict the DOD’s use of the lower-3 band or require it to share all or a portion of the band — a course of action which would materially damage the national security of the United States. The DOD has developed exquisite radars on this portion of the spectrum precisely because of the unique physics there which enable them to function so effectively. There is a reason the CCP is actively advocating that other countries around the world build out their 5G infrastructure on the lower-3 band. It is to limit the capabilities of our most capable radars.

The twofold path forward must be (1) an aggressive pursuit of spectrum sharing technology for use throughout the spectrum (not just the critical lower-3 band), and (2) a thorough and candid assessment of what portion, if any, of the 7 and 8 GHz band of spectrum can be auctioned off to industry without harming national security. From there, Congress can give the spectrum auction authority necessary. This should happen quickly as 5G expansion remains a priority.  

As the United States engages in this competition with Communist China with a renewed vigor under the Trump administration, it is imperative that we not trade national security for economic prosperity. Now is not the time to degrade our military capabilities, especially those capabilities needed to defend our homeland from attack. We never want to send our troops into a fair fight. We want to give them every possible advantage to prevail with minimum losses. That includes crucial bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. I look forward to working with my colleagues to find a solution to the ever-increasing demand for spectrum usage, while acknowledging our need to restrict certain portions for national security.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chair of the SASC Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, and also serves on the SASC Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and the SASC Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.