Sumit Ahlawat
Treat drones like bullets and “small munitions more than high-end airplanes.” This was the most crucial message from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as he signed a new memo, signaling far-reaching changes to the Pentagon’s UAV policy, that can have a significant impact on how the US conducts warfare in the coming years and decades.
Launching the US’s boldest military drone modernization effort to date, Hegseth has ordered the removal of any policies that slow down the development and deployment of drones.
Pointing out that drone technology is advancing rapidly and acknowledging that the adversaries of the US are collectively producing millions of cheap drones every year, Hegseth has directed the US armed forces to equip combat units with a wide range of low-cost drones.
Notably, this year, Russia has set a target of producing four million drones, while Ukraine is aiming to produce 4.5 million drones.
Hegseth blamed the red tape of previous administrations for the US military units lacking lethal combat drones required by modern warfare.
“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,” he wrote.
The memo makes far-reaching changes to the US drone policy.
The Tectonic Shift In US Drone Policy
Supporting US Drone Industry: In the memo, Hegseth demonstrated a commitment to protecting and developing the US’s domestic drone industry.
“Our overt preference is to Buy American…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,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.
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