Report: Pentagon unprepared to defend against emerging drone warfare

Vaughn Cockayne 

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A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.

U.S. forces are vulnerable to drone swarms due to insufficient scale and urgency in efforts to meet the demand for affordable, precise drone and counter-drone systems, a new report says.

Researchers at the Center for a New American Security acknowledged the Department of Defense’s efforts to improve drone capabilities over the last decade, but said it has not been enough. While the Pentagon has invested in drone and counter-drone systems, a lack of urgency has let U.S. rivals take the lead, they said Wednesday in a report.

China has far outpaced the U.S. in development and production, the report says. Without rapid development and production, U.S. forces are at risk of being overwhelmed in a potential conflict with China.

“Without deep magazines of substantially enhanced counter-drone capabilities, the United States risks having its distributed warfighting strategies overwhelmed by massed Chinese drone attacks, and the United States could lose a war over Taiwan,” the report reads.

In a battle over Taiwan, U.S. forces would need to counter an increasingly drone-reliant China, the report says. The People’s Liberation Army has long considered drones to be an integral part of its military apparatus and has launched significant investment programs to improve their effectiveness. In 2024, China ordered 1 million kamikaze drones to be manufactured by 2026 and has continued to invest in research and development.

The report provides numerous recommendations to the Pentagon, emphasizing investments in new and emerging technologies while enhancing training and integration. Specifically, the report advocates for increased counter-drone training across all armed forces, ensuring that all troops can defend themselves against the emerging threat.

Researchers said disaster can strike for lack of that proper training.