In a sweeping overhaul of military drone policy, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a acceleration of drone development and deployment, urging commanders to treat small drones not as high-value aircraft but as “consumable battlefield tools” crucial to 21st-century warfare, according to a video released by Pentagon on Thursday afternoon.
The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s June 6 executive order aimed at turbocharging America’s defense manufacturing and reversing what Hegseth called years of “red tape” that stifled innovation.
“Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation,” Hegseth declared in a statement. “Our adversaries collectively produce millions of cheap drones each year. US units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires.”
The defense secretary said the Pentagon would no longer be shackled by bureaucracy, with immediate changes to procurement, training, and manufacturing policies already underway.
Hegseth laid out a three-pronged strategy:
Boost US Manufacturing: “We will bolster the nascent US drone manufacturing base by approving hundreds of American products for purchase by our military,” Hegseth said. He added that the department would leverage private capital flows with an “overt preference to Buy American.”
Technological Leapfrog: The Pentagon will arm combat units with low-cost drones engineered by leading US experts in AI and robotics. “Drone dominance is a process race as much as a technological race,” he noted. “Modern battlefield innovation demands a new procurement strategy that fuses manufacturers with our frontline troops.”
Battlefield Training Overhaul: Hegseth directed the military to fully integrate drone warfare into combat training by next year, including simulated “force-on-force drone wars.” He challenged military leadership to overcome “the bureaucracy’s instinctive risk-aversion” to training, budgeting, and field deployment.
“Lethality will not be hindered by self-imposed restrictions,” Hegseth said. “Drone technology is advancing so rapidly, our major risk is risk-avoidance. The Department’s bureaucratic gloves are coming off,” he added.
Hegseth emphasized that emergent technologies like drones demand fresh funding structures. He said the Pentagon is exploring investment methods laid out in Executive Order 14307, which aims to streamline support for defense startups and expand drone-related contracting.
“The modern battlefield doesn’t wait for committee meetings,” Hegseth warned. “It rewards speed, adaptation, and innovation.”
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