The Pentagon is slashing red tape to unleash “American drone dominance” and outpace rivals like China and Russia.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled sweeping reforms to supercharge U.S. drone production and train service members in their use.
The Department of Defense posted a video of Hegseth signing the new orders — delivered, fittingly, by drone.
“While our adversaries have produced millions of cheap drones before us, we were mired in bureaucratic red tape. Not anymore,” Hegseth said.
“Today, I’m rescinding restrictive policies that stifle production. And this will unleash American manufacturing and the ingenuity of our war fighters.”
The Pentagon’s new drone strategy rests on three pillars: buying American-made drones to boost domestic production, tapping the nation’s top engineers and AI experts to arm combat units, and breaking the risk-averse mindset Hegseth says has kept military leaders from fully embracing drone innovation.
“We’re going to train as we expect to fight,” Hegseth said. “Senior officers must overcome bureaucratic risk aversion in budgeting, weaponing, weaponeering, and training.”
“This is the future. We’re in the fight. We’re in the fight to win it. And we’re never going to back down,” he concluded.
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