U.S. Drone Industry Lags Behind Ukraine

PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: P1-Sun FPV interceptor drone is displayed at an exhibition of Ukrainian drone makers, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in an undisclosed location, Ukraine February 20, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

WASHINGTON, July 27 — The United States remains in the earliest and most difficult stage of building a domestic drone industry, with production still a fraction of Ukraine’s wartime output, the Pentagon official leading the effort said Monday.

Travis Metz, deputy director and chief operating officer of the Defense Innovation Unit, has overseen the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program since last fall.

Metz said Ukraine is expected to produce between 6 million and 7 million small first-person-view attack drones this year, or roughly 500,000 each month.

By comparison, the Pentagon’s $1.1 billion program will have ordered just under 200,000 drones cumulatively by February.

“It’s much harder to get from zero to 200,000” than it will be to expand further once the United States has the capacity to manufacture drones at a much larger scale, Metz said in an interview.

The Pentagon is also tightening requirements for drones to be built with American-made components, adding another challenge to efforts to increase production.

A revised supply-chain framework released July 23 states that the government’s ultimate goal is “a wholly domestic” supply chain for small unmanned aircraft systems.

Metz said difficult-to-source components, including semiconductors, remain a much broader problem for the United States beyond the drone initiative.

Drones submitted by the 19 companies competing in an August testing event may not contain prohibited components such as Chinese-made brushless motors or battery packs, Metz said.

That requirement is stricter than the standard used during the program’s first phase. Metz estimated that “the vast majority” of drones purchased during the earlier phase probably contained Chinese motors.

“It’s an increasingly difficult thing,” he said.

Despite those challenges, Metz said he expects the United States to eventually rival Ukraine’s drone industry.

“I see no reason why we shouldn’t ... be the world champions of this as well,” he said.

All six Ukrainian companies invited to the Gauntlet II testing event at Fort Carson, Colorado, have entered or are moving toward joint ventures with U.S. manufacturers, Metz said.

The partnerships are required for the companies to qualify for future orders.

Ukrainian company F-Drones has partnered with Ohio-based Ukrainian Defense Drones, which opened a facility near Toledo, according to the companies.

Ukrainian drone maker General Cherry has also agreed to form a joint venture with Wilcox Industries of New Hampshire.

Metz said the Ukrainian companies participating in Gauntlet II must localize production in the United States to win future orders.

The structure is intended to bring Ukraine’s battlefield experience into the U.S. manufacturing sector rather than make the Pentagon dependent on imported drones.

(Source: Reuters)