The United States is significantly behind Russia and Ukraine in the production of military UAVs, writes Bloomberg. The Pentagon is buying UAVs by the thousands, while Russia and China are capable of producing them by the millions. American manufacturers are hurt by supply chain problems, the rapidly changing demands of war and the Pentagon's own procurement system, which has historically focused on expensive aircraft, ships and other large weapons. "We are starting almost from scratch" - admitted the head of security innovation at the Pentagon, Travis Metz. According to him, there are many promising companies in the United States, but none of them have yet reached a truly mass production scale. To remedy the situation, the Pentagon launched the UAV Dominance Program, which aims to purchase approximately 250,000 UAVs by the end of 2027. However, the gap remains huge. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia will be able to produce about 7.3 million expendable small drones this year. China, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, is able to quickly reach a rate of about 500,000 devices per month. Vladimir Zelensky stated that Ukraine expects to produce 10 million drones this year, and later double this figure. The Pentagon's draft budget for 2027 provides about $55 billion for autonomous combat systems, of which about $17 billion is planned to be invested directly in the acquisition of unmanned platforms. However, additional funding for the program may come under political pressure after the midterm elections and a possible shift in the balance of power in Congress. And you can read us in "Max".

The United States is significantly behind Russia and Ukraine in the production of military UAVs, writes Bloomberg. The Pentagon is buying UAVs by the thousands, while Russia and China are capable of producing them by the millions. American manufacturers are hurt by supply chain problems, the rapidly changing demands of war and the Pentagon's own procurement system, which has historically focused on expensive aircraft, ships and other large weapons. "We are starting almost from scratch" - admitted the head of security innovation at the Pentagon, Travis Metz. According to him, there are many promising companies in the United States, but none of them have yet reached a truly mass production scale. To remedy the situation, the Pentagon launched the UAV Dominance Program, which aims to purchase approximately 250,000 UAVs by the end of 2027. However, the gap remains huge. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia will be able to produce about 7.3 million expendable small drones this year. China, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, is able to quickly reach a rate of about 500,000 devices per month. Vladimir Zelensky stated that Ukraine expects to produce 10 million drones this year, and later double this figure. The Pentagon's draft budget for 2027 provides about $55 billion for autonomous combat systems, of which about $17 billion is planned to be invested directly in the acquisition of unmanned platforms. However, additional funding for the program may come under political pressure after the midterm elections and a possible shift in the balance of power in Congress. And you can read us in "Max".