USNORTHCOM Commander’s Visit Spotlights Johns Hopkins APL’s Proactive Role in Homeland Defense

Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), visited the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, on May 14 to review technologies and capabilities aligned with top homeland defense priorities.

The visit included briefings and demonstrations focused on three key mission areas: integrated air and missile defense, multidomain awareness and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (c-UAS).

“At APL, our mission is to anticipate the nation’s hardest problems and unite our best minds to solve them,” said Dave Van Wie, head of APL’s Air and Missile Defense Sector (AMDS) and incoming Laboratory director. “For homeland defense, that means combining deep technical expertise with strong partnerships across government and industry.”

Guillot, who assumed command in early 2024, has publicly called for improved sensing and intelligence-gathering capabilities across domains, often stating, “You can’t defeat what you can’t see.” Discussions and presentations during the visit covered integrated sensing, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled decision tools and new approaches to counter drone threats — all of which are central to APL’s broader efforts in support of homeland defense initiatives.

The visit also highlighted APL’s partnerships with industry aimed at developing affordable testing approaches for missile defense technologies.

“This was a meaningful visit for all involved,” said Rebecca Zimmerman, APL’s senior strategist for homeland defense. “It gave Gen. Guillot a firsthand look at how seriously APL takes these challenges, and for the Laboratory, it affirmed that our work is aligned with USNORTHCOM’s priorities.

“One of the additional themes for us throughout the day was leaning forward to partner with industry. We want to ensure new technology transitions effectively — and position industry to deliver it at scale.”

The visit featured a review of tools designed to improve multidomain awareness — the ability to detect, track and respond to threats from the seabed to space — as well as AI tools that help fuse sensor data across air, land, maritime, space and cyber domains. 

The Laboratory’s focus on developing and transitioning capabilities to conduct c-UAS planning, training and operational response was a key part of the engagement, and Guillot invited APL to participate in Falcon Peak 25.2, an upcoming joint counter-drone exercise. Additional demonstrations covered directed-energy systems for nonkinetic defense against airborne threats.

Anticipating the evolving national security environment, APL established its Homeland Defense Mission Area in late 2023. The Lab has decades of experience supporting such work for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation.

“Protecting the homeland is one of the nation’s most critical challenges,” said Andy Oak, mission area executive for Homeland Defense. “APL’s long-standing work across many different technical disciplines and the breadth of operational domains involved helps us bring an integrated perspective to these complex problems.”