The Department of Defense announced Wednesday it is consolidating oversight of all military drones and autonomous systems under a newly established office, aiming to accelerate the development and deployment of unmanned technology across the armed forces.
The Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems will report directly to Deputy Secretary of War Stephen Feinberg and encompass unmanned and autonomous systems across land, sea, and air domains. This office will also manage funding, acquisition, and policy for programs currently distributed among military services, the Defense Innovation Unit, Joint Interagency Task Force 401, and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group.
This centralization aims to unify oversight of the Pentagon's rapidly expanding drone and autonomous systems programs. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell stated that drones and autonomous systems represent a significant battlefield innovation and that the U.S. must increase its pace of fielding these capabilities to maintain a tactical and strategic edge against adversaries who collectively produce millions of unmanned systems annually.
The reorganization aligns with the Trump administration's broader initiative to expand the military's use of drones and autonomous systems. In December, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth highlighted the administration's "Drone Dominance" program, a billion-dollar initiative funded by President Trump. Hegseth emphasized the need to field capable attack drones in large quantities, noting the prohibitive cost of intercepting inexpensive enemy drones with expensive missiles.
The Pentagon plans to deliver tens of thousands of small drones to U.S. forces in 2026, with hundreds of thousands more expected by 2027. This effort includes reshaping warfighting doctrine to integrate unmanned systems throughout combat units. The department stated that the new office will consolidate specialized expertise under a single leadership structure to speed up the development, procurement, and fielding of autonomous capabilities and to preserve the U.S. military's advantage over potential adversaries.