#military drones

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll says the service aims to purchase one million drones within 18 to 24 months and will launch a soldier-led marketplace next month where private companies can sell drone innovations directly to military units. The push follows the Army's inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition.

The U.S. Air Force has completed a significant manned-unmanned teaming exercise pairing an F-22 Raptor stealth fighter with a General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger drone. The flight demonstrates progress toward a future where autonomous wingmen fly alongside piloted aircraft in combat.

The U.S. Army is establishing a competitive event in Huntsville to identify the best drone pilots in the force, modeled on the tradition of the Best Ranger Competition. The initiative is designed not just as a showcase but as a tool to shape how the service selects, trains, and develops unmanned systems operators.

The 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart is pioneering a training program to make every soldier a drone operator, integrating small unmanned systems into armored brigade combat teams as standard equipment rather than specialist tools.