Home/Technology/Pentagon wants $54B for drones, more than most nations’ military budgets

Pentagon wants $54B for drones, more than most nations’ military budgets

TechnologyApril 22, 20261 min readAttributed summary
Pentagon wants $54B for drones, more than most nations’ military budgets
The proposed Pentagon drone investment rivals Ukraine’s entire military budget.
Reading Settings

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.

Read full article

Comments

Source: Ars Technica

Related technology stories

The Download: rogue agent liability and the AI Hype Index
Sourced report
technologyreview.com11 hours ago

The Download: rogue agent liability and the AI Hype Index

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Who’s liable when AI agents go rogue? Over t

6 min briefingRead signal →