Pentagon wants 300,000 cheap drones: US officially enters era of "cheap, mass, disposable"

The US Department of Defense has finally done what Ukrainian volunteers have been doing for the third year: officially asked industry to flood the army with cheap strike drones. Only instead of garages and donations, there are billion-dollar programs, competitions for corporations, and a clear goal: hundreds of thousands of disposable "birds" that should fly towards the enemy quickly, en masse, and without unnecessary sentimentality about their own value.

Small Wars Journal reports: this week, the US Department of Defense (in the text, “War Department” as a stylistic allusion to the historical name) announced a large-scale initiative to purchase more than 300,000 low-cost disposable strike drones, betting on the so-called “drone advantage” through numbers, not just expensive “artificial” platforms.¹ The press release talks about four stages of selection (“gauntlets” – from the English gauntlet, a series of tests), which should gradually reduce the price of one drone from approximately $5,000 to about $2,300 and at the same time launch a permanent national UAV production base in the United States.¹

The ultimate goal of the program is to transfer more authority to commanders on the ground, integrate cheap strike drones into all key combat training formats, and move to a “ready to fight today” concept through mass-produced “expendable” drones, rather than just a limited number of expensive “wunderwafels.”¹ If we take this seriously, Washington is actually trying to formalize what has long been happening semi-spontaneously in Ukraine and Russia: to turn cheap UAVs into the norm, rather than a “temporary solution” on the battlefield.¹

What exactly did the Pentagon announce: numbers, goal and timing

According to SWJ, a press release from the US Department of Defense announced a "billion-dollar drone dominance initiative," under which private companies are invited to submit designs for disposable strike drones with key requirements: simplicity, low cost, the ability to quickly scale up production, and suitability for mass deployment in combat units.¹ The total order is for over 300,000 units of “cheap and expendable” kamikaze drones, designed for single use against enemy targets.¹

The program is structured as four consecutive selection stages (gauntlet phases), each of which should reduce the price and increase the technological readiness and standardization of solutions.¹ At the start, the baseline is said to be approximately $5,000 per drone, while the ultimate goal is to lower the average cost to around $2,300 without destroying the suitability of these systems for real combat.¹

Four "gauntlets": how the US wants to make drones cheaper

Although the press release does not describe in detail all the technical parameters of each phase, the logic in the name "gauntlet" is transparent: each stage is a series of rigorous tests and selections, after which only those solutions that really combine low price with acceptable efficiency remain.¹ In the early stages, companies are expected to present a wide range of prototypes and approaches: from classic flying wing aircraft to multicopters and hybrid schemes capable of delivering a warhead to the required range.¹

In the following phases, the criteria become stricter: standardization of interfaces, compatibility with control systems, logistical simplicity, the ability to produce tens of thousands of units without quality failures.¹ The final "gauntlet" should leave a limited set of solutions on the basis of which the future "cheap" unmanned US industry will be built, capable of operating not according to the logic of "artificial products", but according to the logic of mass-produced ammunition.¹

From expensive “exclusive” platforms to disposable swarms

A separate emphasis of the press release is the rejection of the fetish of "exquisite platforms", that is, extremely expensive, "sophisticated" systems, of which there are few, but each of them is presented as a technological masterpiece.¹ The concept relies on "cheap and numerous unmanned systems" that can be lost without catastrophic consequences for the budget and operational plans, much like artillery shells or anti-tank missiles are currently expended.¹

This approach echoes older analytical materials by War on the Rocks, which back in 2014 described future wars as a confrontation between “small, many, smart” and “few, exquisite”: many small and relatively intelligent systems against a small number of extremely complex and expensive platforms.¹ The point is simple: a cheap swarm, guided by competent tactics, has a much better chance of "gnawing through" the enemy's defenses in the long run than a few units of "golden" weapons that are afraid to lose even during exercises.¹

Why the Pentagon suddenly fell in love with "disposable toys"

SWJ suggests reading the new press release together with last year's article by David Kyrychenko, "Affordable Drones and Civilian Supply Chains are Transforming Warfare," which uses the example of Ukraine to explain in detail how cheap, civilian-commercial drones are already reshaping warfare before our eyes.¹ Ukrainian FPV drones (first person view), converted quadcopters, civilian components - all this proved that the "garage industry" is capable of creating an effect that no one expected from it even ten years ago.¹

The Pentagon, which has long held on to the "less, but more expensive and technologically advanced" model, is forced to face reality: mass cheap UAVs in the hands of a motivated enemy turn any armored object into a temporary target, and high-precision missiles and fifth-generation aircraft suddenly turn out to be not the main, but rather a "special" tool.¹ The new course actually recognizes that without its own segment of cheap "expendable" drones, the United States risks losing not a presentation at the exhibition, but a real war against an enemy that assembles FPV from AliExpress and trains new operators every day.¹

Transfer of authority to commanders: "fight with what you have, today"

Another important detail of the initiative is the doctrinal emphasis on the readiness to "fight tonight" with the means already available, without waiting for all rounds of bureaucratic approvals and certifications to be completed.¹ The press release emphasizes that drones should be integrated into all relevant combat training formats, and commanders at the battalion, brigade, and above levels should be given broader authority to use them, without turning each sortie into a separate mini-operation with a Pentagon-level headquarters.¹

In other words, the Pentagon recognizes that "drones as a service" should become as much an everyday tool for a commander as a call for artillery or a request for intelligence, and not an exotic thing that is agreed upon in a dozen offices every time.¹ This requires simple, standardized, cheap platforms that can be issued to units in batches, rather than in "artificial" series that are shaken like a museum exhibit.¹

What does a “permanent drone industry” in the US mean?

One of the key formulations of the press release is the intention to "launch a permanent American industrial base of drones," that is, to move away from the regime of one-time purchases, reactive programs, and situational solutions in favor of the stable production of cheap unmanned weapons.¹ This involves not only contracts with defense industry giants, but also the involvement of smaller companies that can quickly adapt civilian technologies to military needs.¹

In practical terms, it is about creating what has long existed for artillery as "shell factories", only now in the format of drones: standardized hulls, engines, electronics, and control systems that can be produced in tens of thousands of units per year without panic and rush hour with every escalation of geopolitics.¹ Against the backdrop of information about the increase in UAV production in China, Iran, Russia, and even North Korea, such a "drone factory" ceases to be a futuristic idea and becomes an elementary condition for survival in the new arms race.¹

What does all this mean for Ukraine?

For Ukraine, the news has at least two dimensions. First, it is a signal: the leading Western army is officially confirming what Ukrainian military personnel, volunteers, and engineers have been doing for a long time – relying on the mass production, cheapness, and simplicity of drones as consumables.¹ If the Pentagon's program is successful, in the long term it means a potential increase in the availability of standardized American platforms to allies, including Ukraine, in the form of direct supplies or joint production projects.¹

Secondly, this is another argument in internal discussions: while someone in Ukraine is still hesitating whether "it is worth investing in drones," the Pentagon is investing billions in them and planning hundreds of thousands of units.¹ This means that our manufacturers and the state should not only run after grants and imports, but also build their own systemic policy in the field of cheap UAVs - with clear standards, long-term orders, and industry support, and not just heroic improvisation.¹

It's not too late for the US to join the "race to cheapness"

Skeptics may note: while press releases are being written in Washington, swarms of drones are already operating daily in Ukraine, the Middle East, and other hot spots, and cheap FPV kamikazes have become so commonplace that their videos are losing their "novelty effect."¹ But it is this pause that makes the current U.S. turnaround significant: if even a giant that has been betting on "more expensive and more complicated" for decades admits that it can't get anywhere without "cheap and massive," it means that the trend has taken hold for a long time.¹

The only question is whether American industry will have time to reach the required volumes and price before potential adversaries feel so confident that they decide to test this system in a real clash.¹ The 300,000 drone program is not a panacea, but it is a very telling beginning that shows: the era of single “premium drones” is ending, and the strict mathematics of costs and losses is entering the scene.¹

Sources

1. Small Wars Journal: "War Department Asks Industry to Make More Than 300K Drones, Quickly, Cheaply"