In a major policy shift, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has launched a new initiative to “unleash” U.S. drone capabilities, aiming to equip every Army squad with small, one-way attack drones by 2026.

The Pentagon wants more small, cheap, easily replaced drones in the hands of troops as quickly as possible, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he is cutting red tape to make that happen.

The memo directs the military services to create active duty formations by September, built for the sole purpose of scaling the use of drones across DOD.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the military to increase its production of small drones to meet the growing threats emerging worldwide. Hegseth released a memorandum outlining the policy on Thursday.

U.S. drone stocks are flying high after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he’s fully committed to “unleashing American drone dominance.” Hegseth confirmed plans of “rescinding restrictive policies” to boost manufacturing and accelerate the use of unmanned systems for military purposes in a video recorded at the Pentagon on Friday.

Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on June 26, 2025. (Andrew Harnik / ) Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary,

Hegseth announced the directive in a flashy video, equipped with a drone delivering him the memo, posted to X, formerly Twitter.

The Senate wants to increase funding for Ukraine's military by $200 million after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth paused Ukraine aid.

The instability Hegseth is accused of bringing to the Pentagon is also said to be a factor in his failure to inform the White House that he’d stopped Ukraine’s arms shipment: He has no chief of staff, is having a hard time finding one, and lacks senior advisers who might have been able to prevent the fiasco.

Our soldiers responded without hesitation, killing several enemy fighters and capturing a Taliban machine gunner. At that moment, the team leader radioed me. He was suddenly confronting a scenario that every Green Beret officer prepares for during the Special Forces Qualification Course: His foreign counterpart was about to commit a war crime.