Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael tour multi-domain autonomous displays in the courtyard of the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., July 16, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)
During an event in the Pentagon courtyard, DOD leaders shared new details about near-term plans to quickly and drastically enhance the military’s drone arsenal.
Sgt. Lucero Martinez, an unmanned aircraft systems operator, assigned to Detachment 1, Delta Company, 545th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, helps launch an unmanned aircraft system during a UAS exercise on June 12, 2025 at Camp Gruber Training Center, Oklahoma. The exercise, hosted by the 45th IBCT and featured numerous UAS and counter-UAS systems, focused on preparing infantry Soldiers to react to UAS threats. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Spc. Cambrie Cannon)
A Boeing unmanned MQ-25 aircraft is given operating directions on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Hillary Becke)
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon departs after being refueled over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Dec. 17, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Aircraft armed with advanced laser-guided rockets took out a little under half of the Houthi-launched attack drones during the recent military campaign.
A Crew Chief assigned to the 163d Attack Wing, March Air Reserve Base marshals MQ-9 Reaper on the Strategic Expeditionary Landing Field on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, CA July 21, 2022. The 163d accelerated change by pioneering the first ever refueling of the MQ-9 Reaper using a Forward Area refueling Point provided by the VMM – 764’s V-22 Osprey. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Pagan)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 14: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hegseth, an Army veteran and the former host of “FOX & Friends Weekend” on FOX News will be the first of the incoming Trump administration’s nominees to face questions from Senators. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Photo of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command Headquarters building on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. (DoD illustration by Lewis Carlyle)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks boards the USS Constellation in Baltimore, Md. Sept. 20, 2024, for the naming ceremony of the future submarine USS Baltimore. Hicks accepted the offer of becoming the sub’s sponsor from Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)
This figure was derived from assuming two CCAs each for 200 NGAD platforms and an additional two for each of 300 F-35s, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall…