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Kathleen Hicks

Kathleen Hicks

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense

Appears in 1 story

Stories

America's race to mass-produce combat drones

New Capabilities

No longer in government; Replicator architect

The Pentagon spent $398 million on small drones in 2022. Four years later, as Ukraine demonstrated that $400 drones could destroy $10 million tanks, Congress authorized $1.7 billionโ€”a fourfold increase. Now the Department of Defense has launched its most ambitious small-drone initiative ever: a $1.1 billion program to field more than 300,000 one-way attack drones by 2028, with the first 30,000 expected by mid-2026.

Updated Feb 4