Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav The US military’s massive $1.5 trillion budget request for the next fiscal year includes what Pentagon officials described as the largest investment in drone warfare and counter-drone technology in US history.
The proposed spending on drone and autonomous warfare technologies within the FY2027 budget proposal for the US Department of Defense would surpass most countries’ defense budgets and rank among the top 10 in the world for military spending, ahead of countries such as Ukraine, South Korea, and Israel.
Specifically, the Pentagon is requesting $53.6 billion to boost US production and procurement of drones, train drone operators, build out a logistics network for sustaining drone deployments, and expand counter-drone systems to defend more US military sites. The funding request is budgeted under the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), an organization established in late 2025 that would see a massive budget increase after receiving about $226 million in the 2026 fiscal year budget.
“I think of the DAWG as a pathfinder—they’re out there finding the best technology for us and working on integration,” said Jules Hurst, a senior Pentagon official performing the duties of the Under Secretary of Defense, during a Pentagon press briefing held on April 21. “They’re with these companies, live right now, testing different systems and orchestration tools for autonomy, and they’re giving them live feedback.”
Another $20.6 billion would help purchase one-way attack drones and drone aircraft developed through the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which is building drone prototypes capable of teaming up with human-piloted fighter jets. Part of this funding would also go toward defensive systems for countering small drones and the US Navy’s Boeing MQ-25 drone designed to perform midair refueling of carrier-borne fighter aircraft to extend their strike ranges.
Such drone-related spending even rivals the entire budget of the US Marine Corps. But the Pentagon has not said that it is creating a dedicated drone branch of the US military similar to the standalone Space Force.
Pentagon officials emphasized that most of the money would go toward procuring drone and autonomous warfare technologies that already exist, and is largely separate from additional funding that would bolster US domestic manufacturing capacity to build such weapon systems. “That $70 billion is all going into existing systems and technologies,” said Hurst. “The industrial base support is entirely separate.”
The US military already has a long history of developing and deploying drones during its Global War on Terrorism campaign, including MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones that have performed surveillance and strike missions while operating at medium or high altitudes. But recent conflicts, especially the Russo-Ukrainian War, have shown how smaller quadcopter-style drones and longer-range, one-way strike drones acting like missiles can reshape the modern battlefield and force opposing sides to adapt quickly to new innovations and strategies.
Another sign of the times comes from how large numbers of inexpensive, Iranian-made Shahed drones have proven effective in attacking cities and energy infrastructure across Ukraine and the Middle East. Such drones cost as little as $20,000 to manufacture and can overwhelm air defense systems—even inspiring the US military to recently adopt its own version reverse-engineered from the original Iranian design.
The ongoing US-China rivalry has also seen both countries’ militaries racing to develop new ways to harness AI-enabled, autonomous drone swarms and other uncrewed technologies in preparation for a potential conflict in the Pacific.
“The evolution we’ve seen in the battlefield is this evolution of technologies in the timeframe of weeks, not the typical years we see with our defense production,” said Lt. Gen. Steven Whitney, director of force structure, resources, and assessment for the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the Pentagon press briefing. “So it’s really critical we work with industry to get that capability fielded.”
Whether or not the US military boosts its drone and autonomous warfare spending to such a degree in the coming fiscal year depends on US lawmakers, who must first approve the Pentagon budget. The proposed $1.5 trillion budget for the US military would represent the largest year-over-year increase in defense spending since World War II, according to Reuters.
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