While no one knows when or where the next major war will break out, what is becoming clear is that next time the United States engages directly in a conflict, U.S. combat units will be sharing their battle space with a different type of force — drones, lots of them.
In a push for the world's most powerful military to “meet the demands of 21st-century warfighting,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Pentagon to fast-track the adoption and boost the number of various small drones deployed across the force, treating them as “consumable or expendable” capabilities similar to bullets, hand grenades and other munitions.
The new initiative aims to ramp up the production, experimentation and fielding of small unmanned systems weighing less than 55 pounds (25 kilograms). This includes one-way, “kamikaze” attack drones and loitering munitions to maintain “battlefield superiority” as Washington’s geopolitical and technological rivalry with Beijing intensifies.
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