The US Army plans to acquire at least 1 million drones over the next two to three years as part of a massive procurement buildup, said Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
The Department of Defense is preparing a sharp increase in the supply of small unmanned aerial vehicles: if currently the army receives about 50,000 drones per year, in the coming years they plan to reach hundreds of thousands – and potentially millions – annually.
This is a response to the lessons of the war in Ukraine, where cheap mass drones have proven to be one of the key resources, and to concerns about dependence on Chinese component production.
Driscoll emphasizes the need to build domestic supply chains – from engines and batteries to sensors and platforms – and stimulate production within the United States.
This is a big uplift. But it's an uplift that we are perfectly capable of achieving
In an interview with Reuters, he detailed plans and experiments at the Picatinny Arsenal — including testing counter-drone measures and new munitions. Separate legislative initiatives propose creating a factory in Texas capable of producing up to 1 million drones per year.
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We expect to acquire at least a million drones over the next two to three years. And we expect that in one or two years we will know that at the moment of conflict we will be able to activate a supply chain that will be robust and deep enough so that we can activate it to produce as many drones as we need.
The remaining details, including funding rates and specific contracts, remain a matter for future Pentagon and Congressional decisions.
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