By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Army aims to buy at least a million drones in the next two to three years and could acquire anywhere from a half million drones to millions of them annually in the years that follow, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said.
Driscoll detailed the major ramp-up in the Army's drone acquisition plan in an interview with Reuters, acknowledging the challenges given that the biggest branch of the U.S. military acquires only about 50,000 drones
annually today.
"It is a big lift. But it is a lift we're very capable of doing," Driscoll said.
He spoke by phone during a visit to Picatinny Arsenal, where he described learning about experimentation with "net rounds," defenses that capture a drone in nets, as well as new explosives and electromagnetic tools synched into weapon systems.
Driscoll and Picatinny's top commander, Major General John Reim, spoke to Reuters about how the United States was taking lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine, which has been characterized by drone deployments on an unprecedented scale.
Tiny, inexpensive drones have proven to be one of the most potent weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war, where conventional warplanes are relatively rare because of a dense concentration of anti-aircraft systems near front lines.
Ukraine and Russia each produce roughly 4 million drones a year, but China is probably able to produce more than double that number, Driscoll said.
Driscoll said his priority is getting the United States into a position where it can produce enough drones for any future war, stimulating domestic production of everything from brushless motors and sensors to batteries and circuit boards.
Much of that manufacturing is dominated by China today.
"We expect to purchase at least a million drones within the next two to three years," Driscoll said.
"And we expect that at the end of one or two years from today, we will know that in a moment of conflict, we will be able to activate a supply chain that is robust enough and deep enough that we could activate to manufacture however many drones we would need."
Driscoll said he fundamentally wanted to change how the Army saw drones -- more like expendable ammunition rather than an "exquisite" piece of equipment.
FUTURE OF WARFARE?
The Pentagon is trying to overcome a mixed track record on acquiring drones. In 2023, Pentagon leaders announced the Replicator initiative, a department-wide effort to acquire and field thousands of autonomous drones by August 2025.
However, it has not provided an update on the current status of the program.
In July, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo in which he said he was "rescinding restrictive policies" that had impacted drone production.
Reuters has reported that the Pentagon's DOGE unit is leading efforts to overhaul the U.S. military drone program, including acquiring tens of thousands of cheap drones in the coming months.
U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation that would direct the Pentagon to create a facility in Texas that could build up to 1 million drones a year.
But Driscoll said his aim was to spread funding and not rely on a single production facility.
Instead of partnering with larger defense companies, he said the Army wanted to work with companies that were producing drones that could have commercial applications as well.
"We want to partner with other drone manufacturers who are using them for Amazon deliveries and all the different use cases," he said.
Chinese imports account for the vast majority of U.S. commercial drone sales. More than half come from DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer.
Driscoll said he was confident there was enough funding for the increased drone needs and the Army has already been moving to divest from some older weapons systems.
Funding decisions often require buy-in from lawmakers, who are often hesitant to cut weapons programs benefiting their own districts.
"Drones are the future of warfare, and we've got to invest in both the offensive and defense capabilities against them," Driscoll said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali;Editing by Alistair Bell)
