Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
America has long turned toward technology to better protect service members and civilians. From sonar and radar to GPS and now unmanned aerial systems, the adoption of new tools has meant increased mission success with fewer lives lost. Indeed, drones have far outgrown their novelty status and have become important tools for the military, federal and state agencies, local law enforcement and commercial enterprises like utility companies and energy producers.
Responding to the expanding market demand for drones, expected to grow to nearly $55 billion globally by 2030, American drone manufacturers have invested billions of dollars to expand production and worked with military, law enforcement and civilian leaders to develop solutions to the challenges and threats they have identified.
Perhaps nothing better reflects this cooperation than the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Replicator initiative. Recognizing the growing threat posed by a modernizing Chinese fighting force, the Pentagon announced Replicator in August 2023 with the goal to rapidly equip the U.S. military with affordable, autonomous systems to counter U.S. adversary advantages in mass. As Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said at the program’s announcement, the DoD seeks to do this “at the volume and velocity required to deter aggression or win if we’re forced to fight.”
Replicator is an ambitious program and one that America’s drone industry is prepared to meet, including my company, Skydio. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary Hicks recent visits to Silicon Valley and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) underscore the commitment and sense of urgency with which American military leaders are acting to arm America’s military with the best available technology to deter aggression by China or any other adversary.
To be sure, China has had the head start. Fueled by anti-competitive actions and investment by the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese-made drones have come to dominate the global market. For a time, fueled by state subsidies, Chinese-made products outperformed American drones. That is no longer true.
Today, American-made drones offer state-of-the-art cameras, better durability and longer flight times that rival the best of Chinese-made products. Some domestic drone producers go much further by embedding revolutionary AI autonomy that transforms the power of what drones can do. For example, the Secretary of Defense recently received a demonstration of the Defense Innovation Unit’s Artificial Intelligence for Small Unit Maneuver (AISUM) program, which features a single operator simultaneously orchestrating multiple American-made, autonomous drones. The AISUM program, along with adjacent advances in autonomy, is critical to Replicator’s success and the ability of the U.S. armed forces to deploy intelligent and affordable drones in mass.
Security matters just as much as capability. On that score, there is no competition. Chinese laws require Chinese drone companies to provide information they obtain to the government, which could require installing “software backdoors” that place sensitive networks and data at risk. To mitigate those risks, U.S. military services began to ban Chinese-made drones beginning in 2017. Congress followed up with a ban across DoD in 2019. Last year, Congress prohibited defense contractors from using insecure Chinese drones in the course of their contracts, and seven states have restricted Chinese drones for use by state or local agencies.
The world is changing rapidly, and we are learning a lot about the value of drone technology from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. As with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s economic mobilization to win World War II and President John F. Kennedy’s call to put an American on the moon, the Pentagon’s emphasis on the Replicator program is the kind of initiative that has defined American innovation and that will help to guarantee America’s security now and in the future.
W. Mark Valentine is the president of global government at Skydio. He is a retired U.S. Air Force Officer and combat veteran F-16 pilot. He has also served as a commander and as a staff officer at HQ USAF and the Joint Staff. Skydio demonstrated the capabilities of its drone systems to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks at two separate events recently.
