The United States is preparing for a sweeping expansion of its drone-building capacity, with the Army outlining plans to acquire at least one million unmanned aerial vehicles within the next several years, Reuters reported Friday, citing Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.

Driscoll told the outlet that Washington’s current industrial output falls far short of what major powers are producing. The US defense sector is capable of turning out roughly 50,000 drones per year, a number he described as insignificant compared with the estimated four million reportedly manufactured annually by both Russia and Ukraine. He added that China’s output is believed to exceed even those figures.

Drone Gap

The push comes as US defense officials increasingly warn that the country is ill-prepared for a large-scale conflict in which mass-produced, attritable drones dominate the battlefield. The war in Ukraine has dramatically accelerated drone innovation and production, demonstrating that small, inexpensive UAVs function less as traditional aircraft and more as ammunition.

Russia and Ukraine now deploy drones by the millions each year, often relying on rapid manufacturing cycles, cheap components, and, on the Russian side, steady imports of Chinese parts. Analysts across Washington have pointed out that the United States cannot rely on similar supply chains during a potential conflict with China, making domestic production capacity a strategic priority.

Domestic Ramp-Up

US officials have also been pressured to reduce dependence on Chinese-made drones, particularly DJI systems widely used across federal agencies. Recent procurement restrictions and congressional efforts to block the use of Chinese UAVs have further underscored the need to build a domestic drone base that can scale quickly in wartime.

"We expect to purchase at least a million drones within the next two to three years," Driscoll said, explaining that the Pentagon is working to build a supply chain able to sustain wartime-level production. "And we expect that at the end of one or two years from today, we will know that in a moment of conflict, we will be able to activate a supply chain that is robust enough and deep enough that we could activate to manufacture however many drones we would need."

He added that the Army must overhaul its mindset around drones, shifting from treating UAVs as advanced, high-value systems to viewing them as expendable tools designed for rapid turnover. This change reflects lessons learned from Ukraine, where mass use of cheap FPV drones has reshaped battlefield tactics.

Drone Partnership

The US move coincides with deepening coordination with Kiev on drone development. Earlier in the week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that an American delegation will arrive in the capital next week to discuss a bilateral framework for jointly producing combat drones.

Washington is also considering broader cooperation with Ukraine on unmanned technologies. In October, President Donald Trump told reporters that the United States is interested in pursuing a drone technology exchange agreement with Kiev.

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