WSJ - (archived: https://archive.ph/twjBM ) U.S. Army Plans Massive Increase in Its Use of Drones

The shift to more small unmanned aircraft is based on lessons from Ukraine battlefield

By Michael R. Gordon | Photographs by Louisa Marie Summer for WSJ
April 30, 2025 11:00 pm ET

HOHENFELS, Germany—The U.S. Army is embarking on its largest overhaul since the end of the Cold War, with plans to equip each of its combat divisions with around 1,000 drones and to shed outmoded weapons and other equipment.

The plan, the product of more than a year of experimentation at this huge training range in Bavaria and other U.S. bases, draws heavily on lessons from the war in Ukraine, where small unmanned aircraft used in large numbers have transformed the battlefield.

The Army’s 10 active-duty divisions would shift heavily into unmanned aircraft if the plan is carried out, using them for surveillance, to move supplies and to carry out attacks.

To glean the lessons from Ukraine’s war against Russia, U.S. officers have debriefed its military personnel and consulted contractors who have worked with the Kyiv’s military about their innovative use of drones.

“We’ve got to learn how to use drones, how to fight with them, how to scale them, produce them, and employ them in our fights so we can see beyond line of sight,” said Col. Donald Neal, the commander of the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment. “We’ve always had drones since I’ve been in the Army, but it has been very few.”


Staff officers with 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment work out of the back of a truck at Hohenfels, Germany.

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