We're starting almost from scratch": The US is significantly behind Russia and Ukraine in the mass production of military drones. Bloomberg. The Pentagon buys drones by the thousands, while Chinese and Russian manufacturers produce them by the millions. As U.S. UAV manufacturers try to catch up, they must overcome serious supply chain problems, the rapidly changing demands of the battlefield, and the challenges of the Pentagon itself, which is used to buying more expensive submarines and fighter jets than cheap disposable UAVs. Last July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched the Drone Dominance Program, another effort to rapidly expand the U.S. drone manufacturing base. "We're basically starting from scratch," said Travis Metz, the Pentagon's chief of defense innovation. "We have a very active group of entrepreneurial UAV companies, but none of them have reached the scale of production in the US." The goal of the UAV Dominance Program is to purchase approximately 250,000 UAVs by the end of 2027. However, American companies would not produce in the quantities that might be required in the event of a future war. Russia is expected to produce 7.3 million small expendable drones this year, according to Ukrainian intelligence, and China is able to quickly increase production to 500,000 devices per month, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report. Ukraine will produce 10 million UAVs this year and plans to double this figure, Volodymyr Zelensky said. The Pentagon's proposed 2027 budget (pending congressional approval) calls for a sharp increase in spending on unmanned systems. It includes about 55 billion dollars for the development of autonomous combat systems, of which about 17 billion dollars for the procurement of unmanned systems.

We're starting almost from scratch": The US is significantly behind Russia and Ukraine in the mass production of military drones. Bloomberg. The Pentagon buys drones by the thousands, while Chinese and Russian manufacturers produce them by the millions. As U.S. UAV manufacturers try to catch up, they must overcome serious supply chain problems, the rapidly changing demands of the battlefield, and the challenges of the Pentagon itself, which is used to buying more expensive submarines and fighter jets than cheap disposable UAVs. Last July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched the Drone Dominance Program, another effort to rapidly expand the U.S. drone manufacturing base. "We're basically starting from scratch," said Travis Metz, the Pentagon's chief of defense innovation. "We have a very active group of entrepreneurial UAV companies, but none of them have reached the scale of production in the US." The goal of the UAV Dominance Program is to purchase approximately 250,000 UAVs by the end of 2027. However, American companies would not produce in the quantities that might be required in the event of a future war. Russia is expected to produce 7.3 million small expendable drones this year, according to Ukrainian intelligence, and China is able to quickly increase production to 500,000 devices per month, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report. Ukraine will produce 10 million UAVs this year and plans to double this figure, Volodymyr Zelensky said. The Pentagon's proposed 2027 budget (pending congressional approval) calls for a sharp increase in spending on unmanned systems. It includes about 55 billion dollars for the development of autonomous combat systems, of which about 17 billion dollars for the procurement of unmanned systems.