US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on the 3rd that the Pentagon has launched a project worth 1 billion US dollars to purchase hundreds of thousands of small attack drones for the military. In a video posted on social media X, Hegseth said that low-cost, disposable battlefield drones have been proven to be effective, the US cannot lag behind in this field, and “we cannot use missiles that cost 2 million dollars to shoot down cheap drones.” Hegseth said that the project will achieve the two goals of reducing drone costs and improving strike capability. It is expected that tens of thousands of small drones will be delivered to the military in 2026, and hundreds of thousands of drones by 2027.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on the 3rd that the Pentagon has launched a project worth 1 billion US dollars to purchase hundreds of thousands of small attack drones for the military. In a video posted on social media X, Hegseth said that low-cost, disposable battlefield drones have been proven to be effective, the US cannot lag behind in this field, and “we cannot use missiles that cost 2 million dollars to shoot down cheap drones.” Hegseth said that the project will achieve the two goals of reducing drone costs and improving strike capability. It is expected that tens of thousands of small drones will be delivered to the military in 2026, and hundreds of thousands of drones by 2027.