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US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced the US government will rescind policies hindering production and access to drone technology.
The changes, announced under a “Unleashing US military drones dominance” memorandum earlier this month will also involve supporting the American drone industry in efforts to leverage the “biggest battlefield innovation in a generation”, reforming acquisition and fielding new technology.
Secretary Hegseth has confirmed that the US military has plans to develop unmanned aerial systems technology against adversaries who already collectively produce millions of cheap drones each year.
“While global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape. US units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires,” Secretary Hegseth said.
“President Trump (has) issued Executive Order 14307 to support the American drone industry and arm our warfighters. I am rescinding restrictive policies that hindered production and limited access to these vital technologies, unleashing the combined potential of American manufacturing and warfighter ingenuity.
“I am delegating authorities to procure and operate drones from the bureaucracy to our warfighters.
“Our mission is threefold. First, we will bolster the nascent US drone manufacturing base by approving hundreds of American products for purchase by our military. Leveraging private capital flows that support this industry, our overt preference is to buy American.
“Second, we will power a technological leapfrog, arming our combat units with a variety of low-cost drones made by America’s world-leading engineers and AI experts. Drone dominance is a process race as much as a technological race. Modern battlefield innovation demands a new procurement strategy that fuses manufacturers with our front-line troops.
“Finally, we’ll train as we expect to fight. To simulate the modem battlefield, senior officers must overcome the bureaucracy’s instinctive risk aversion on everything from budgeting to weaponising and training. Next year I expect to see this capability integrated into all relevant combat training, including force-on-force drone wars.
“Drone technology is advancing so rapidly, our major risk is risk avoidance. The department’s bureaucratic gloves are coming off.”
Secretary Hegseth has confirmed that emergent technology will require new funding lines and investment methods are being investigated.
