The US Department of Defense has launched an ambitious $1-billion initiative aimed at ramping up domestic drone manufacturing, with plans to procure approximately 300,000 systems over the next two years. Dubbed “Drone Dominance,” this effort aligns with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s directive issued in July, which introduced sweeping changes to the Pentagon’s approach to acquiring and utilizing drone technology.
In a significant shift from traditional practices, the initiative focuses on reforming the Pentagon’s often sluggish acquisition process. By creating a predictable, high-volume demand for drones, the program seeks to foster large-scale industrial production. It also aims to expedite the deployment of drones by eliminating regulatory obstacles that have hindered small unmanned systems and by granting greater authority to unit commanders.
“Drone dominance is a billion-dollar program funded by President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill,” Hegseth remarked, emphasizing the program’s foundational principles. He outlined a new acquisition philosophy for the War Department that includes a stable demand signal to bolster the US drone industrial base through private investment, flexible contracting aimed at commercial entities, and contributions from leading engineers and entrepreneurs.
The funding provided by the Big Beautiful Bill is set to facilitate a rapid build-up of combat capabilities, with the program encapsulated under Hegseth’s “fight tonight” philosophy to ensure that warfighters are equipped with the necessary technology for immediate combat scenarios.
The program will unfold in four six-month phases, referred to as “gauntlets,” beginning in February 2026. The first phase will see the Pentagon place an order for 30,000 one-way attack drones, with expected deliveries by July 2026. From a competitive pool of 25 vendors, 12 will be selected to manufacture the initial systems at a cost of $5,000 each—totaling $150 million for this opening phase.
As the program progresses, the number of vendors will gradually decrease from 12 to 5, with procurement volumes increasing from 30,000 to as many as 150,000 drones. This scaling up is anticipated to leverage economies of scale, driving the unit cost down from $5,000 to approximately $2,300.
While the request for information does not detail specific drone types, the projected pricing suggests a focus on first-person-view drones and small quadcopters akin to those used extensively in Ukraine. Ukraine’s success in producing millions of drones annually has been attributed to reforms that transitioned its Soviet-era defense industry into a dynamic, commercially-driven ecosystem focused on unmanned technologies.
The expansion of US drone production under the Drone Dominance initiative is expected to reinforce supply chains and enable the military to secure necessary quantities of drones at sustainable prices. Hegseth highlighted the urgency of modernizing the military, noting, “We can’t do that by doing business the same way we have in the past. We cannot afford to shoot down cheap drones with $2 million missiles. And we must be able to field large quantities of capable attack drones ourselves.”
