Army secretary says US can't keep pumping money into expensive weapons that can be taken out by an $800 Russian drone
Source: Business Insider
May 7, 2025, 5:51 AM ET
The US can't keep building and buying expensive weapons that are vulnerable to drones that are produced at a fraction of the cost, the Army secretary said. "We keep creating and purchasing these exquisite machines that very cheap drones can take out," Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said during an episode of the "War on the Rocks" podcast that aired Tuesday.
"If the number is even remotely right, that Russia has manufactured 1 million drones in the last 12 months, that just makes us have to rethink the cost of what we're buying," he continued. "We are the wealthiest nation, perhaps in the history of the world, but even we can't sustain a couple-million-dollar piece of equipment that can be taken out with an $800 drone and munition," he said.
Driscoll was responding to a question about whether the US military was walking away from the Robotic Combat Vehicle. He said that while the concept was valuable, the cost ratio didn't work. The US military has been watching the war in Ukraine, where cheap drones packed with explosives are damaging or destroying expensive combat equipment like tanks, other armored vehicles, air defenses, and even warships, highlighting the vulnerability of larger and more prized weapons that are insufficiently defended.
The proliferation of cheap drones — some of which cost as little as a few hundred dollars — has become a growing concern for the US military as it readies for the possibility of a large-scale confrontation between NATO and Russia in Europe or a fight with China in the Pacific.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/army-secretary-us-cant-make-expensive-weapons-vulnerable-cheap-drones-2025-5
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bucolic_frolic
(50,847 posts)you damn fool.
William Seger
(11,680 posts)There is ongoing development of Counter-UAS (CUAS) or counter-drone systems that aim to disrupt or take down drones -- we just need to get much better at it.
Prairie Gates
(5,241 posts)
Traildogbob
(11,290 posts)Fired by Kegsbreath live on Fox in 3..2..1..
JustABozoOnThisBus
(24,189 posts)Because the Army, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are both part-time jobs with full-time salaries.
cayugafalls
(5,817 posts)Somebody call Sarah Connor, we’re gonna need some help.
If we end up making drones in response during this administration then I can almost guarantee that all those drones will be AI controlled…just saying.
LymphocyteLover
(8,153 posts)cayugafalls
(5,817 posts)
LymphocyteLover
(8,153 posts)cayugafalls
(5,817 posts)Of which the Sarah Connor and ball of lightning from the future reference.
The movie is about a future where AI has taken over and is in process of total annihilation.
Sarah Connor is the mother of the future general who defeats the AI robots in the future.
The AI robots developed time travel (of course, because, movie magic) and sent the Terminator to end Sarah, but Sarah had other plans.
There ya go, my apologies for making an obscure movie reference.
IronLionZion
(49,161 posts)GOP are not trying to hide their blatant support for Russia.
Paying Ukraine to destroy the Russian military for us has been one of the greatest returns on investment of all time.
walkingman
(9,371 posts)and we call this progress?
republianmushroom
(20,233 posts)
aggiesal
(10,099 posts)We are going to make an army of walking robots that are stronger, faster & run on AI, so they'll think faster.
Which means robots will have this capability to screw up on a massive level.
Think about that!
LiberalArkie
(18,411 posts)Think of how badly they can be hurt by this.
Maybe it is time to stop congress critters and immediate families from being invested in stock and maybe only allow them to be in 401k's and stock indexes only.
underpants
(191,065 posts)That’s in MY DISTRICT buddy!!!
Ponietz
(3,897 posts)“Critter”?
ancianita
(40,637 posts)"Critter" translated = cowardly republican majority members obedient only to Big Dog
Ponietz
(3,897 posts)
Basso8vb
(1,141 posts)They have literally been dragging out tanks from the 1950's for the better part of 3 years now.
All they have left are missiles and bombs.
LymphocyteLover
(8,153 posts)
Mysterian
(5,694 posts)They will launch insane weapons programs that will do nothing to protect the USA but fill the pockets of war-profiteering billionaires. Just like Reagan's idiotic "Star Wars" program. Weapon systems that are cost-effective will be scrapped to channel funds to the profiteers "next generation" ultra-expensive and worthless weapons.
Baitball Blogger
(50,167 posts)ancianita
(40,637 posts)(from Google AI)...
For Ukraine, the US has provided a variety of drone systems:
Phoenix Ghost Systems: These were initially publicized as a secret delivery.
Puma LE Drones: A Group 2 drone that is hand-launchable and has a longer endurance.
Reconnaissance UAVs: Unspecified systems described by Oryx as reconnaissance drones.
Counter-drone systems: Such as the Electro Optic Systems Slinger, announced in September 2023.
Jam-resistant drones: Specifically, the V-BAT, which can be launched vertically;
Potentially ATACMS for HIMARS: The US is considering providing more of these longer-range missiles;
furthermore, the US is exploring the integration of laser-guided munitions on drones like the V-BAT.
Trump has not stopped aid to Ukraine. Yet.
As for the US Military's own drone weapons and UAV's, right now there are more than 60 vendors -- among the biggest are Maris-Tech Edge Computing Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, vHive Tech, and Panasonic that prioritize drone swarm innovation, technology, and production, according to GlobalData.
The US Military itself uses both AI autonomous drone swarms and human guided predator drones with missiles;
the US Military has led in drone use for over a decade;
the US Military 280 Reaper drones for surveillance and strike missions.
Baitball Blogger
(50,167 posts)They're in a better place to evaluate what modern warfare with drones can do, than we are.
ancianita
(40,637 posts)And yes, they're in a better place to know, and so (hopefully) we help based on what they tell us.
Not for nothing, our allies of the EU (and if I recall correctly, some US military contractors along with them) have trained Ukrainians on fighter jet and weapons (armory, artillery, drone) uses. I daresay that behind the scenes, there is still Lloyd Austin and his fired generals of the Joint Chiefs who continue their commitment to help Zelenskyy and his military.
We see the felon's words/actions toward Zelenskyy/Ukraine but their seeming silence is, to me, loud circumstantial evidence only open right now to speculation. I prefer to hope that in spite of this money worshipping felon in chief who despises democracies, we still have a moral military out there.
FredGarvin
(645 posts)Iranian, North Korean and Russian made ballistic missiles, missiles and drones are very expensive to shoot down by very expensive US made AA systems.
This clown has no clue about the dynamics
mackdaddy
(1,778 posts)If you watch something on YT they keep recommending it. There have been a huge number of vids of FPV (first person View) drones being flown right into open doors or hatches of tanks, personnel carriers or even underground bunkers. Even some of individual soldiers in a field trying to run away from a drone that chases him down like an angry hornet and blows him away.
At the recent funeral for the pope there were photos of a futuristic gun like thing that could jam or disable the radio like of drones as protection for all the dignitaries there.
But the latest is a 'fly by wire' or more specifically optic fiber link. The drone can carry MILES of fiber that it spools out as it flies. It is then impervious from the jamming and can fly lower since it does not rely on a radio data link. Apparently the Russians were first with the fiber optic drones. One of the big strikes inside Russia was on the only plant they had that produced the optic fiber for these.
I actually think these may be the biggest danger for 'ending' public figures. How do they stop these from aircraft on the ground or a reviewing stand or even on a golf course? Apparently they have to knock them down with a shotgun like duck hunters...
Frontline recently did a piece on this.
OnlinePoker
(5,966 posts)But, fair warning, unlike Youtube, there's no censorship.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/
FredGarvin
(645 posts)It's defending cities against massive barrages by cheap and very effective weapons.
Metaphorical
(2,434 posts)9th Hole at the Golf Club near Mara Lago with a high range armed drone with a self-destruct. I'm quite honestly surprised it hasn't happened somewhere yet in the US.
AverageOldGuy
(2,649 posts). . . whose livelihood depends on continuing to manufacture super-dooper, whiz-bang weapons.
The US Dept of Defense is controlled by defense contractors who keep coming up with stuff that is more and more complicated and expensive.
I wonder how much of the logistics tail that is critical to the fighting force is taken up carrying batteries for all that electronic stuff?
FredGarvin
(645 posts)On Ukrainian cities.
One would think the the USA who outspends the entire planet on military spending would be able to provide a cheap solution.
And people say that Russian defense spending is corrupt?
lastlib
(26,113 posts)War is such a COLOSSAL WASTE?!??
Time, material, LIVES....all could be put to so much better use.
Marthe48
(20,844 posts)Religion controls thought, war controls population.
I like archeology, and spend a lot of time wondering why so many ancient cities were fortified. Wondering where the legions of soldiers came from. The legions may be exaggerated, but the ruined walls are a mute testament to our early and constant war with each other.
Oneironaut
(6,015 posts)The vast majority of earth still fights over whose sky fairy is better. I don’t think there’s much hope, tbh.
littlemissmartypants
(27,988 posts)Iggo
(48,917 posts)Or does he think we haven’t been?
This better not be news to anyone in uniform.
xocetaceans
(4,191 posts)Ponietz
(3,897 posts)It’s a mistake to dismiss this point with with a lazy ad hominem attack.
xocetaceans
(4,191 posts)...unclear that you have read the article or thought much beyond its headline, a trite aphorism, and a ironic attack phrase.
You might try rethinking your acceptance of his point by rephrasing it:
"We cannot keep pumping money into expensive training for soldiers who can be taken out by a 30¢ Russian bullet."
How does that work for you? Do you still think the underlying framework of his argument is correct? If so, maybe you really need to sit back and think a bit more or maybe work on some personal clock repair.
Ponietz
(3,897 posts)Lazy ad hominem attacks do little but diminish your credibility. See a pattern here?
Better is: “Why invest in soldiers when cheap drones are more effective and cost a fraction?”
xocetaceans
(4,191 posts)But, seriously, you're saying that you actually read that article and not merely its headline and that my earlier post was enough to provoke a scolding reaction from you (which you've now doubled down on)? And all in the apparent service of some seeming need to protect the virtual honor of some unqualified, standard-issue Trump lackey who made a patently ignorant statement (as so many of them do so frequently)? And all of that while completely missing the point of the realities of the need to maintain a modern military that is ready for a conventional conflict as well as one that has developed the tactics necessary effectively to ward off drones and their attritive attacks?
Truly...whatever, but I salute your aplomb.
Harker
(16,327 posts)Maybe if Trumpsky weren't busy assisting Putin and wrecking NATO there would be little likelihood of conflict with Russia.
3825-87867
(1,428 posts)When Russian drones, which are seriously poorly produced and operated, can have the capability of traveling thousands of miles over water in bad weather (that redirects many airline flights), have the capability of monitoring them the whole time ( probably more than 7 to 10 hours continuous) and then be able to effectively concentrate on a moving target with a known time delay to the target using almost tube type electronics for a lot of their tracking, then maybe we should be worried. Even if they try something like Starlink, the data is almost immediately available for countermeasures.
That said, if they or "others" are controlling drones from somewhere on the east coast, occupants of the White House, Pentagon and especially Mar-a-lardo should really be concerned as should U.S. officials like MIller and Vance and Johnson, idiots in Florida and Texas et al in case, others who may disagree with their policies get ideas and can acquire those capabilities. Just a ...thought.
Be Leave On
(226 posts)As General Smedley Butler said long ago, "War is a racket".
And it is also foolishly destructive as the two world wars proved.
We have to get out of the mindset that feeds the racket.
JT45242
(3,389 posts)If there is widespread conflict in Europe, we will likely be on the side of evil allied with Putin.
I keep thinking that Putin, Ping, and Mango will divide the world up -- Putin gets the former USSR in Asia and all of Europe. Ping and China get Eastern and southern Asia, and the Oceania areas. The US will take North and South America.
The Secretary of the Army may think that we will be on the correct side of NATO, but Daniel is not the commander in chief.
DENVERPOPS
(12,584 posts)Speaking of the U.S. Military Industrial Complex and them supplying these outrageously priced weapons vs a drone.......
I thought in the run-up to the IRAQ war, by the Cheney/Rumsfeld Presidency, that there would be a need for a un-fathomable amount of money needed to supply the military to supply and then re-build all the military supplies and equipment used.
So, I bought shares of stock in all the seven major military corporations.....Boeing, Raytheon, etc etc
And I sat on them, looking for a serious price increase in their stock ............and surprisingly they didn't increase in price like I suspected, and it made me curious.
It was hard to find information, but I found a privately held group with the name Carlisle(sp?) Because it was privately held, there was little information on them. I did find out that HWBush, when he left the Presidency had landed there as the Chairman of the Board? for years and years.
I saw where it was a group of 602 of the nation's wealthiest who all owned part of this group, and were well invested in the Military Corporations at the time of the IRAQ war.... Like I said it was almost impossible to determine what they were up to. But it would be interesting to have some crack team from Rolling Stone or WaPo to look into it. Because it seemed at the time, all purchases for war items seemed to possibly be run through Carlisle, acting as a middle man, and gleaming the profits of the massive sale of a half a Trillion dollars in purchases needed to supply the war, and the re-building of the stuff all over again that had been depleted.....
I could be off base, but it seemed plausible....????????
I happened upon something else that I found fascinating regarding the Carlisle group.
Money was being cut out of public school budgets across the nation by Republicans, so money was not available to the schools, prompting them to do school fund raising projects.
An elementary school kid and his mother came to our door, selling small bags of popcorn and single sheets of grift wrapping paper.
They wanted five bucks for each petty item, that would normally cost 50 cents. The mom told me they got a dollar from each purchase from the company supplying them......I studied the color brochure of all the items, and when I read the fine print about the Company supplying them, it was the Carlisle (sp?) Group.
Fascinating, cut funding to schools, the schools would have to raise money, somehow, so come up with a scheme to take advantage of it......I figure that the schools made a buck, and they made 4 bucks on every sale.......
Anytime a school group, girl scout cookie drive, or any other organizations comes to my door, I don't buy anything, I just give the group twenty bucks to go directly to the group.....
Ponietz
(3,897 posts)DENVERPOPS
(12,584 posts)but I am not a vulture investor, I only did it that once to see if my suspicions were true.
Everything is made to "Make The Richer Richer"
An even bigger scam is the Stock Market IPO offerings.......I tested that too just to prove the same......and ditto the results.....
Ponietz
(3,897 posts)DENVERPOPS
(12,584 posts)I am open to comments/criticism, and I am not "Thin Skinned"......
I find comments/criticism help me grow, and think of other people's thinking very educational, and sometimes changing my opinion on things.
At the same time, experimenting and testing things like this, and IPO's, is increasing proof to me, the Uber Rich Corporations influence in running America.
If what we are seeing continues, we most certainly will not be the United States of America, but the Corporate States of America.
OR the Corporate Tyranny of America....
Again, thank you...........Please don't ever worry about commenting......
BumRushDaShow
(154,479 posts)Carlyle has been known for a LONG time!
North Coast Lawyer
(103 posts)Ukraine is doing a great job destroying expensive Russian military hardware (and associated soldiers) with inexpensive drones. Of course Russia plays this game too -- but Ukraine is much better at it.
We should be learning from the lessons Ukraine is teaching us -- not complaining.
DENVERPOPS
(12,584 posts)is jamming the drone's guidance communication ability electronically.......Something the Defense people are working to install at light speed. They even have portable devices already being tested/used..........
Think of a single or group of drones approaching a target....It is hit with an electronic pulse wave, destroying it's ability to hit the target, by making it just fall out of the sky, where ever it is..........
TygrBright
(21,152 posts)The US has made itself arms dealer to the world by prioritizing the development of ever-more-sophisticated (and expensive) military technology, and flogging off its previous-generation goodies to allies, partners, and (probably) under-the-table private dealers/middlemen. The idea being we'd always have the BEST toys and thus would always win.
This priority has dominated military planning, budgeting, and procurement since the end of WWII, enthusiastically helped by what Eisenhower pinpointed as the "military-industrial complex". That powerful alliance of tech-obsessed senior military (mostly from services other than the Army) and military tech oligarchs, has promoted the mindset that "the best tech wins the most wars" since the Nagasaki explosion.
Reality, however, has contradicted this doctrine multiple times. No matter how advanced a combatant's standoff weaponry might be, the actual process of taking real estate and real-estate based military strategic assets can ONLY be accomplished by the US military's most valuable and paradoxically undervalued asset: Infantry. Well-trained, well-equipped, highly-motivated, experienced infantry, thoroughly supported by both ordinary combat management logistics AND the application of superior standoff weapons supporting infantry operations.
We had our noses rubbed in this in Vietnam. We had our noses rubbed in this in Kuwait, in Fallujah, in Mogadishu, in Baghdad, in Afghanistan. Counterinsurgency can NEVER be successfully accomplished by technology alone, and almost all of our modern conflicts have a powerful counterinsurgency element.
So, dude is correct - the best possible investment of the U.S. military budget is the establishment of a recruiting, training, advanced training, logistics management and combat support network that makes and keeps a substantial force of Army and Marine Infantry, Mechanized Infantry, Airborne Infantry, Special Operations and Combined Operations units, sharp, trained, and ready for deployment under the widest possible variety of conditions.
This is NOT cheap. A new high-tech bomber or unmanned ordnance delivery system or some dumbshit like skynet or whatever would be cheap compared to the cost of letting the preparedness and effectiveness of an adequate Infantry personnel roster decline.
But he's making a poor case, and likely will be ignored.
resignedly,
Bright
marble falls
(66,043 posts)
TexasBushwhacker
(20,893 posts)that Eisenhower, a REPUBLICAN, warned us about. That military equipment is made in the US and that means JOBS. War means more equipment needed, therefore more money and more jobs.
Norrrm
(1,933 posts)Adm Rickover mentioned that within a week, all aircraft carriers on both sides would be on the bottom.
Kid Berwyn
(20,689 posts)Save a buttload of time.
Emrys
(8,648 posts)The Russians have been relying more on drones produced by a conventional model - centralized from a limited number of state sources, very reliant on technology from other countries, including China - and their troops have been complaining about how flatfooted they seem compared to developments in the Ukrainian campaign, where benign competition between developers constantly produces innovations.
The types of drones the Ukrainians have been deploying range from very cheap reinforced cardboard models developed in Australia to modified light aircraft capable of striking many hundreds of miles into Russian territory.
What's being played out in Ukraine and Russia is a much-accelerated Darwinian process of measure and countermeasure. There have been significant developments in electronic countermeasures against radio-controlled drones, followed by counter-countermeasures. The later advances on the Ukrainian side have involved building AI into drones so that if necessary, they can complete a final attack without need for contact with their bases. The major innovation the Russians developed before the Ukrainians was fibre-optic control, but the Ukrainians have quickly caught up. Drones can also have low-cost vulnerabilities, some being taken down by primitive and cheap means like a simple shotgun.
Now other countries are supplying Ukraine with ready-made drones in great numbers to supplement those it can produce itself, leading to the massive swarm attacks that have been swamping Russian air defences in recent months. In what could be interpreted as a feint, Ukraine has forced the Russians to concentrate their air defences around Moscow in the run-up to Putin's grand celebration, leaving other military targets relatively defenceless. Since the Ukrainians focus on military targets rather than population centres - the Russians have even been using/wasting drones in disputed territory to terrorize and kill individual civilians - they've been able to pick off some significant key locations in Russia's military infrastructure.