Today, drone threats have become one of the most fundamental and influential elements of warfare. The potential use of drones in both wartime and peacetime against countries, on the one hand, and the record of drone threats against some national infrastructure in recent years, on the other, have made the need to pay serious attention to the issue of drone threats more evident than ever. This study, derived from a doctoral dissertation titled “Strategic Plan for Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Drone Threats (2024)”, was conducted with the aim of identifying and formulating the principles for protecting critical infrastructure against drone threats. In fact, it can be said that by applying and implementing the formulated principles in existing and future critical infrastructure, a significant portion of infrastructure vulnerabilities against a wide range of drone threats—from reconnaissance and espionage to munition release and destructive impact—will be reduced. From the perspective of its objective, this research is classified as applied research and was carried out using a qualitative thematic analysis method. Since macro-level principles are derived through the use of micro textual data, the research process is inductive. The research data were collected through two methods: documentary and library studies, as well as interviews with research experts. The results of this study led to the identification of 12 fundamental principles, namely: the principle of smart hybrid defense, layered defense, self-reliance, consequence containment, infrastructure self-protection, prioritization, hardening, innovation and updating, dispersion and separation, modern camouflage and concealment, service chain immunity, and attractiveness reduction. Finally, an operational definition of each identified principle was presented in order to standardize interpretations of the acquired principles.