US drone centralisation may delay 200,000-unit Pentagon buy
The Pentagon's move to centralise drone procurement under a new manager could temporarily slow a massive 200,000-unit purchase, creating near-term uncertainty for European defence firms eyeing the billion-dollar market.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the sweeping centralisation of most service-run drone programmes under a single powerful manager, but no one has yet been named to the role. The new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager, already dubbed the "drone czar," will have directive authority over unmanned systems currently managed separately by the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The overhaul is designed to bring order to what Rebecca Grant, vice president at the Lexington Institute, described as the "wild, wild west of this billion dollar fast-paced acquisition." The Pentagon aims to buy 200,000 drones, and Grant argued that "just the acquisition urgency is a strong rationale" for creating the new office.
However, defence analysts warn the restructuring will create immediate procurement friction. David Berteau, a former assistant secretary of defence, cautioned that while the move "may create a better structure" in the long run, "in the short run, it will slow things down." This could temporarily disrupt supply chains and procurement timelines for European defence contractors positioning themselves as suppliers to the US military.
Time is a critical factor. Four different budgets are currently in motion, with FY25 reconciliation funds needing to be formally obligated before September 30. Berteau noted the new office will take time to stand up, but "congressional and annual budget cycles will not wait."
Bureaucratic clashes are almost guaranteed because Hegseth’s memo lacks a definitive list of which specific programmes fall under the new office. When disagreements arise between the czar and the armed services, disputes will be escalated to Deputy Secretary of Defence Steve Feinberg. "I know from long experience that one can only take so many disputes to the DepSec," Berteau wrote. "If you lose more than one or two, you’ve lost them all."
For the reform to work, the eventual appointee must possess significant political capital. Jack Shanahan, a retired Air Force three-star general, stressed the new czar must be recognised as a confidante of Feinberg and Pentagon CTO Emil Michael. They will need "the kind of wasta needed to let everyone know that they ignore the DRPM at their peril," Shanahan said, using an Arabic term for informal influence.
The centralisation has also drawn sharp criticism from within the US military establishment. Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall warned the move sends "a big vote of no confidence in the services" that must ultimately operate and maintain the systems. "Trying to do all that from outside the service is problematic," he said.
