U.S. Military Seeks 300,000 Drones

As part of boosting the U.S. Department of Defense’s (aka DoW’s) capabilities in uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked American industry to produce more than 300,000 drones quickly and inexpensively. The effort is driven by President Donald J. Trump’s executive order for “drone dominance” signed during midyear to amplify U.S. combat drone capabilities through the addition of affordable, lethal drones. 

In keeping with an executive order of June 6, 2025, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” Hegseth is courting both commercial and military suppliers to inexpensively provide large amounts of lethal drones in support of America's military (see figure). He realizes that the executive order requires not just economical hardware but the training to use low-cost, American-made drones in challenging operating environments. Hegseth explained: “Next year I expect to see capability integrated into all relevant combat training, including force-on-force drone wars.” 

By modifying regulations that had previously limited military use of small drones, Hegseth is accelerating the adoption of smaller battlefield drones. He added that “this was the first step in the urgent effort to boost lethality across the force.” Hegseth indicated that the Department of War is now pushing for drone dominance: “The second step is to kickstart U.S. industrial capacity and reduce prices, so our military can adequately budget for unmanned weapons.”