US military bases will be protected by attack drones, under Pentagon plans to repel Iran-linked groups in the Middle East.

On Monday, Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, announced that the US would expand its Replicator program, which has been developing American attack drones to be deployed against China.

A new phase of the program will focus on defensive drones to be deployed at US installations at home and abroad.

It follows months of drone attacks on US bases in the Middle East by Iran-linked groups, with one killing three troops at a site in Jordan in January.

On Sunday, the latest strike took place at a base at Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

US forces have a variety of defences against the so-called “suicide drones”, which are packed with high explosives and flown into military compounds.

The existing defences include electronic jamming devices and anti-aircraft machine guns.

Monday’s announcement suggests the Pentagon expects drone battles to become commonplace around US bases in the coming years.

The defensive drones could also be deployed around US Navy carrier groups, but a list of possible sites has not yet been compiled, a defence official told The Telegraph.

In a memo on Monday, Mr Austin said that “the next stage of Replicator will tackle the warfighter priority of countering the threat posed by small uncrewed aerial systems to our most critical installations and force concentrations”.

He added: “The expectation is that Replicator 2 will assist with overcoming challenges we face in the areas of production capacity, technology innovation, authorities, policies, open system architecture and system integration, and force structure.”