The War Department has issued a request for information to assess industry’s ability to produce more than 300,000 small drones quickly and at reduced cost, marking one of the largest U.S. efforts to expand domestic unmanned systems manufacturing.The move supports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s “drone dominance” initiative, a program aligned with President Donald J. Trump’s Unleashing American Drone Dominance executive order signed June 6. The order directs the United States to accelerate both commercial and military drone capabilities, including mass production of inexpensive, lethal, American-made systems for combat units.Hegseth followed the executive order with a July memorandum outlining how the department will execute the president’s vision—ranging from dismantling barriers to adopting small drones to empowering unit commanders with greater acquisition authority.“Next year I expect to see drone capability integrated into all relevant combat training, including force-on-force drone wars,” Hegseth said. He added that shifting authorities away from bureaucracy was the “first step” in rapidly increasing force lethality.The second step, he said, is expanding domestic industrial capacity. “The goal is to reduce prices so our military can adequately budget for unmanned weapons,” Hegseth said in a video posted Tuesday.Backed by congressional support and funded through what the secretary called the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the program initially focuses on small attack drones. Officials said the department intends to establish a stable, long-term demand signal—an approach meant to incentivize industry to invest in production lines and supply chains needed for high-volume manufacturing.According to the request for information, the department plans to invest $1 billion across four production phases over two years, beginning early next year. The phases, known as “gauntlets,” will test industry’s ability to deliver large quantities of low-cost one-way attack drones.The first gauntlet, scheduled for February through July 2026, calls for 12 vendors to collectively produce 30,000 drones at a cost of $5,000 each. Subsequent phases will increase production requirements while narrowing the vendor pool from 12 to five, ultimately scaling to 150,000 drones at a target unit cost of $2,300.“Drone dominance will do two things: drive costs down and capabilities up,” Hegseth said. He projected tens of thousands of drones in the field by 2026 and hundreds of thousands by 2027.In total, the initiative is expected to fund approximately 340,000 small unmanned aerial systems for combat units. Officials say that by the program’s end, strengthened industrial capacity will allow the military to procure drones through normal budgeting at more predictable prices and volumes.Hegseth emphasized that equipment is only part of the transformation. Updated doctrine and training will shape how unmanned systems are employed on future battlefields. “We need to outfit our combat units with unmanned systems at scale. We cannot wait,” he said. “We’re adopting new technologies with a ‘fight tonight’ philosophy.”The secretary also noted that the post–Cold War drawdown and decades of consolidation reduced the number of U.S. defense contractors, creating a system optimized for quality over quantity. But today’s threat landscape, he said, is defined by low-cost, expendable drones.“We cannot afford to shoot down cheap drones with $2 million missiles,” Hegseth said. “And we ourselves must be able to field large quantities of capable attack drones. Drone dominance is how we ensure the United States is not left behind.”

2025-12-09 - War Department Seeks Industry Capacity to Produce 300,000 Low-Cost Drones (UAS Magazine)

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A new request for information asks U.S. manufacturers to rapidly scale production of inexpensive attack drones as part of Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to achieve “drone dominance” across the force.

War Department Seeks Industry Capacity to Produce 300,000 Low-Cost Drones

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War Department Seeks Industry Capacity to Produce 300,000 Low-Cost Drones