Screenshot of a DOD video of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael and Defense Innovation Unit Director Travis Metz observing a drone dominance demonstration at Fort Benning, Ga., March 2, 2026. (DoW video by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dennis Buzard)
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 6th Squadron, 8th Calvary Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division deploy a smoke screen during Spartan Focus at Fort Stewart, Georgia, Feb.13, 2026. Dogface Soldiers employ drones to identify enemy movements, extend reconnaissance and enhance obscuration efforts through coordinated smoke screens. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Jaimee Perez)
A Soldier assigned to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment employs lethal small unmanned aerial systems during a visit with Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth at Fort Benning, Georgia on Sept. 4, 2025. (DVIDS — Photo by Spc. Luke Sullivan)
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Lilly Sharma, a small unmanned aircraft system operator, with 12th Littoral Combat Team, 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, operates a Skydio X2D during a small unmanned aerial systems training (sUAS) on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Nov. 6, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Robert Blanks)
While the military boosts already-established UAS roles and inter-service job transfers, multiple services have begun to put drones into the hands or on the minds of its…
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon, July 10, 2025. The event was hosted to portray the Secretary of Defense’s initiative of Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alondra Y. Lopez Gonzalez)
A U.S. Marine with III Marine Expeditionary Force familiarizes himself with maneuvering drones during the Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 7, 2025. During a two-week period, the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team trained and certified 3rd Marine Division Marines as attack drone operators, attack drone instructor, and payload specialist instructors, increasing the Division’s lethality and capacity of trained and certified attack drone operators and instructors. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joaquin Dela Torre)
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Henry David Volpe, an automotive maintenance technician with 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Combat Readiness Regiment, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, poses for a photo with the HANX drone he designed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jan. 23, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Alfonso Livrieri)
Marine Sgt. Henry David Volpe, an automotive maintenance technician with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, was credited as having led…
A Neros Archer first-person view drone takes off from the ground during a service level training exercise at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Jan. 27, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Keegan Jones)
The much-anticipated announcement marks the first of a four-phase approach to fielding one-way attack drones and a crucial nexus for the military’s sprint to adopt and widely…