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First on FOX: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issues new orders to quickly track drone production and deployment, allowing commanders to procure and test them independently, demanding drone combat simulations in all branches of the military.
“The bureaucratic gloves of the department are off,” Heggs wrote, as part of a proactive push that surpasses Russia and China in a deserted war. “Lethality is not hindered by voluntary restrictions… Our main risk is risk aversion.”
In a pair of notes first taken by Fox News Digital, Hegseth has revoked its legacy policy, which believes in limited innovation. For the first time, a commander with the rank of Colonel or Captain can independently procure and test drones containing 3D printed prototypes and ready-made commercial systems, as long as they meet national security standards.
You can also quickly manipulate and train your drones, even if they are allowed to bypass traditional approval bottlenecks and test non-lethal autonomous UAs in controlled environments.
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The pair of new orders aims to accelerate drone production and integration across all service branches. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.
“A small UA is more like ammunition than a high-end plane,” one direction states. “They should be cheap, quickly replaceable and classified as consumables.”
The memo redefines small drones (groups 1 and 2) as consumables rather than durable military assets, remove them from the legacy tracking system, and simplifies the acquisition.
So far, Heggs said, “The Department of Defense has “failed to send UAS.” [unmanned aircraft system] Large and at speed. ”
“Small UAs are extremely important power enablers, they must prioritize at the same level as the main weapon systems.”
The commander is instructed to work with the FAA to “remove inappropriate range restrictions, quickly track and expand spectral approvals, and establish a variety of UAS training areas, including live fire, arm combinations, and swarm testing.”
“The bureaucratic gloves in the department are off,” Hegses wrote in a memo. (Getty Images)
The training scope has been expanded, with three new UAS national testing sites mandated within 90 days.
Weaponization has been stuck for a long time, but moves faster. The weapon board must respond to the drone’s arms request within 30 days and must process battery certification within one week.
While the American enemy has a “head start” in the small UAS world, Heggs hopes that the US will establish control of the domain by the end of 2027.
“We hope that next year this ability will be integrated into all relevant combat training, including the Force-on-Force Drone Wars,” Heggs said, adding that the investment methods outlined in Trump’s executive order for American drone control are being investigated.
Pentagon builds a “dynamic, AI searchable blue list” that catalogs drone components, vendors, and performance ratings that catalogue digital platforms. By 2026, the system will be implemented by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and facilitated by data from the nightly AI retraining pipeline.
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Nathan Baptiste, left, Jacob Bennett attaches the camera to the UAV during tactical scenario training for offensive and defensive drone features at Camp Pendleton on Friday, June 6, 2025.
To jump the drone industry, the Pentagon will pursue advance purchase commitments, direct loans and other capital incentives within 30 days. Large purchases “advocate for US companies,” one memo said.
This move comes when the fatal capabilities of modern drone warfare are proven on the ground in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drones have redefine modern warfare. Both Ukrainian and Russian troops use unmanned aviation systems (UAS) to reconstruct tactics on the battlefield and gather real-time intelligence. What began as basic surveillance and artillery quickly evolved into the fatal development of the so-called “Kamikaze Drones.”
The most prolific and controversial of these is Iran’s Shahed-136, a low-cost GPS steered loan supplied to the Russian army. Fired in large formations, Shahed contributes to attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and residential areas, often bypassing expensive missile systems at a fraction of the cost. In response, Ukraine changed its commercial drones to provide explosive payloads for Russian trench, vehicles and naval targets in the Black Sea.
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Earlier this month, Israel relied heavily on drone strikes during Operation Raisinglion and coordinated with manned aerial missions to target high levels of Iranian military personnel and nuclear infrastructure. Iran retaliated with its own barrage of drones.
The rapid adoption of drones has caused major changes in doctrine, spurring the development of electronic measures, and debated whether drones are poised to overtake manned aerial vehicles as the dominant force of future aviation combat.
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