Hegseth orders military to ‘unleash’ use of small drones in new memo

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is directing every US Army squad to be armed with small, one-way attack drones by the end of fiscal 2026, while also enabling troops to modify small drones as necessary in the field as part of a push to break through policy and acquisition barriers.

“While global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape,” Hegseth wrote in the Unleashing US Military Drone Dominance memo dated today. “US
units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires.”

Continued Hegseth, “The directives… support our industrial base, reform acquisition, and field new technology for the warfighter. Lethality will not be hindered by self-imposed restrictions, especially when it comes to harnessing technologies we invented but were slow to pursue.”

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