Pentagon officials have emphasized that most of the money will go toward purchasing existing drone and autonomous warfare technologies, and is significantly separate from additional funding that would strengthen U.S. domestic manufacturing capacity to build such weapons systems. “All of that $70 billion goes to existing systems and technologies,” Hurst said. “Industrial base support is completely separate.”
The rapidly changing pace of drone warfare
The US military already has a long history of developing and deploying drones The Global War on Terror campaign, including the MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones, which performed surveillance and strike missions while operating at medium or high altitudes. But recent conflicts, especially Russian-Ukrainian warshowed how smaller quadcopter-style drones and longer-range, one-way strike drones that act like missiles can transform the modern battlefield, forcing adversaries to quickly adapt to new innovations and strategies.
Another sign of the era is how many cheap, Iranian-made items there are Witness drones It has proven effective in attacking cities and energy infrastructure in Ukraine and the Middle East. Such drones cost $20,000 to manufacture and can overwhelm air defense systems — even inspiring the US military to recently adopt its own version. reverse engineering from an original Iranian design.
The ongoing US-China rivalry has also seen both countries’ militaries racing to develop new ways to use artificial intelligence-powered, autonomous systems. swarms of drones and other unmanned technologies in preparation for potential conflict in the Pacific.
“The evolution we’re seeing on the battlefield is the evolution of technologies over weeks, not the typical years we see with our defense manufacturing,” he said. Lt. Gen. Steven WhitneyThe Pentagon’s director of force structure, resources and assessment for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Pentagon press briefing. “So it’s really important to work with industry to get that capability.”
Whether the U.S. military increases its drone and autonomous warfare spending this much in the coming fiscal year is up to U.S. lawmakers, who must first approve the Pentagon’s budget. The proposed $1.5 trillion budget for the US military would represent the largest budget in a year increased defense spending According to Reuters, since World War II.
