Chairman Wicker Leads SASC Hearing on the American Small Drone Industrial Base

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today led a hearing to examine the state of the U.S. small drone industrial base and the path to American leadership in drone production. <_o3a_p>

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The Honorable Owen O. West, Senior Advisor for Drone Dominance, Department of Defense; Mr. Travis Metz, Drone Dominance Program Manager, Department of Defense; and Major General Steven M. Marks, USA, Director, Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, Department of Defense, all appeared before the committee. <_o3a_p>

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In his opening remarks, Chairman Wicker underscored the urgent need to rebuild America's drone industrial base, strengthen supply chains, and ensure U.S. dominance in small unmanned systems critical to modern warfare. <_o3a_p>

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This hearing is the latest action in the Chairman's work to build America's unmanned aircraft system (UAS) industrial base. Specifically, the Chairman has helped to promote competition in the commercial drone sector, to protect the industry from Chinese interference, and to capitalize on overlaps between private and defense applications of this technology. <_o3a_p>

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In last summer's reconciliation law, Chairman Wicker worked to secure $2.5 billion for the domestic drone industry. That demand signal was then supplemented with extensive bipartisan policy in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. That law directed increased coordination on UAS among military services, private industry, allied nations, and state and local governments. It strengthened systems to help counter UAS attacks and to develop our own stock of drones. The Chairman and committee are now working in close partnership with Secretary Hegseth to implement those laws and to establish the United States as a leader in drone technology. <_o3a_p>

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Read Chairman Wicker's hearing opening statement as delivered. <_o3a_p>

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The committee meets this morning to examine both the state of our small drone industrial base and the path to American leadership in drone production. This issue has profound implications for both our warfighting readiness and our future prosperity. I am not really sure Americans understand that fully yet. It is also part of our broader effort to rebuild the American arsenal. <_o3a_p>

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We are pleased to welcome three witnesses who are leading this effort with the Department: Mr. Owen West, Senior Advisor for Drone Dominance, Mr. Travis Metz, the Drone Dominance Program Manager, and Major General Steven Marks, who is the Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group. <_o3a_p>

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The war in Ukraine has forever changed the character of modern warfare and demonstrated the growing importance of small unmanned systems-what we colloquially call drones. In particular, so-called "Group 1" drones are now central to reconnaissance, targeting, and strike missions. These drones weigh less than 20 pounds and are often purchased at low cost and in very large numbers. <_o3a_p>

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Both the American commercial drone industry and the Pentagon are years behind the curve in producing and employing drones. Catching up is as necessary as it is difficult. But I believe we are finally on the cusp of charting a future for American drone dominance. <_o3a_p>

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To understand why we are so far behind, we must first acknowledge how we arrived here today. The Chinese Communist Party correctly predicted that small drones would be a crucial technology for both military and commercial use- particularly in agriculture and other large-scale industrial efforts. China used state subsidies in the tens of billions of dollars, predatory pricing practices, and state-directed control of key supply chains to capture more than 90 percent of the global non-military small drone market. American drone companies were essentially forced out of the global market. Diminished commercial demand made American drones far more expensive than Chinese drones-anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive. This poses a difficult problem for U.S. military units and U.S. industries who require cheap drones but cannot buy from Chinese companies for fear of supply chain or software vulnerabilities. <_o3a_p>

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As we have seen in the critical minerals and rare earths industry, fighting back against 21^st century economic warfare like this requires creative solutions and thoughtful industrial policy. The United States is poised today to enact both. <_o3a_p>

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Last year's defense reconciliation law set aside $2.5 billion dollars to procure a range of small drones. Just over $1 billion of that sum will be used specifically to purchase very small Group 1 first-person-view drones. Our witnesses will discuss the competition process for this investment. At least it is hoped that we would. I hope they will also discuss our strategic use of loans to help industry rebuild supply chains quickly. We expect this will deliver 300,000 drones by next year. This steady demand signal, which must be continued for quite a few years, will serve as the anchor for America and her allies as we reconstitute our supply chains. So, we will see what our witness says about that. <_o3a_p>

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Investment is just the first step. The free world must band together to stop rewarding China's predatory practices in the small drone industry and they should have been no surprise. Congress has taken important steps to address these concerns. The key example is Section 1709 of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. Championed by Senator Rick Scott, this provision essentially banned the leading Chinese state-sponsored drone companies from selling in the United States. The Trump Administration, led by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, implemented this law just before Christmas last year. <_o3a_p>

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Success will require sustained attention to the supply chain, across its full range of components. We took action to address this in the Fiscal Year 2026 NDAA. We directed the Pentagon to establish a working group to assess our small drone industrial base capacity. That group will then be asked to develop recommendations to strengthen the industry. I anticipate there will be work across the country to support this effort, from new drone designs coming from Oklahoma and California to component manufacturing in New Hampshire and Florida. <_o3a_p>

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I welcome Major General Marks's testimony as the Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, or the DAWG, which is the correct pronunciation of the word in Mississippi, DAWG. While the Drone Dominance efforts focus on smaller Group 1 first-person-view drones, the DAWG will lead on larger one-way attack drones and small unmanned boats. Just a few days ago, America used one-way attack drones for the first time in combat in Iran, with Task Force Scorpion firing the LUCAS drone, a reverse-engineered Shahed-136. I welcome the general's comments on what he plans to do to jump-start these new areas of weapons with the significant funding we provided for the DAWG in reconciliation. It is an absolute imperative that we make a game-changing investment in the next few months on low-cost munitions to complement our exquisite munitions. <_o3a_p>

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The American drone industry is essentially starting from near zero. But today, we are on a path to a strong drone industry that can support American military and commercial demand, thanks to a steady demand signal, thoughtful industrial policy, and close coordination with our allies and partners. We are looking to this panel today for leadership and insight. <_o3a_p>

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I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the department's plans to support this vital work. <_o3a_p>