Army secretary says US can’t keep pumping money into expensive weapons that can be taken out by an $800 Russian drone
BY Herschel Smith
10 hours, 51 minutes ago
“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.
They may be slow but at least they’re learning.
On May 8, 2025 at 6:19 am, jrg said:
Maybe stepping up research on how to mass kill electronic flown devices to avoid the damage they inflict. Drones do change the battlefield on how to fight a war. People become pre-occupied with looking up in the sky rather than looking around for the enemy.