WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Defense Department has announced that with help from industry, it will ramp up production and fielding of low-cost drones to maintain battlefield superiority.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured the display of 18 American-made drone prototypes at the Pentagon Wednesday.
Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the prototypes went from concept to development in just an average of 18 months, a process that normally takes up to six years.
The department will continue to rapidly innovate and scale up production of drones and other systems using cost, resilience, firepower and range as driving factors, which are areas DOD wants to improve upon, Michael said.
Hegseth said in a July 10 memorandum that he is rescinding restrictive policies that hindered drone production.
'Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year's casualties in Ukraine. Our adversaries collectively produce millions of cheap drones each year,' he said, noting the U.S. military is lacking needed quantities of lethal small drones.
The secretary said there are three goals: Prioritizing the purchase of American-made drones and parts with help from industry's private capital; Arming combat units with low-cost drones made by America's world-leading engineers and artificial intelligence experts; and Training with drones in realistic battlefield scenarios, led by leaders who are not risk averse.
In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to speed up U.S. drone production using the latest innovative industry technologies. Trump said he supports reducing regulatory uncertainty and streamlining approval and certification processes for safe and secure drone production.
Also, the Federal Aviation Administration and DOD will coordinate to streamline the approval processes to expand access to airspace for conducting drone training, Trump said.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
