This Week in DOW: Pentagon Press Secretary Says DOW Scaling Drone Production

The War Department is adopting new technologies with a fight-tonight philosophy so warfighters will have the cutting-edge tools they need to prevail.

"We call it drone dominance," said Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson, during the DOW's weekly Sitrep video.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced this week that funding provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill will be used to mount an effective sprint toward building that combat power.

"America will soon be the dominant force producing and manufacturing powerful small-scale drones," Wilson said.

The department requested information earlier this week to gauge industry's willingness and ability to make massive numbers of drones quickly and inexpensively - a concrete effort by the secretary to directly meet the drone dominance goals laid out by President Donald J. Trump.

"Drone dominance will do two things: drive costs down and capabilities up," Hegseth said. "We will deliver tens of thousands of small drones to our force in 2026, and hundreds of thousands of them by 2027."

Through the drone dominance program, $1 billion from the One Big Beautiful Bill will fund the manufacture of approximately 340,000 small drones for combat units over the course of two years.

After that, it's expected that American industry's interest in building drones as a result of the program will have strengthened supply chains and manufacturing capacity to the point that the military will be able to afford to buy the drones it wants, in the quantity it wants, at a price it wants, through regular budgeting.

Also, this week, Hegseth attended the funeral of slain West Virginia Army National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, Wilson said.

Beckstrom, 20, of Summersville, West Virginia, died Nov. 27 after being shot the day before while on duty near Farragut Square, a small park, in Washington. She served as a military police soldier with the 863rd Military Police Company.

"In her honor, President Trump ordered flags nationwide to be flown at half-staff, including here at the Pentagon," Wilson said.

The War Department also welcomed Beckstrom's colleagues to visit and tour the Pentagon Thursday morning.

This week, the Department of War's Office of Inspector General transmitted its review to Congress regarding the use of the Signal messaging app, Wilson said.

"The review is a total exoneration of Secretary [Pete] Hegseth and proves what we knew all along: no classified information was shared," she said. "This matter is resolved, and the case is closed. We're glad to finally debunk this ridiculous narrative once and for all."

This week Pentagon leaders also welcomed dozens of new media representatives into the Pentagon Press Corps, replacing former press corps members.

In October, Pentagon leadership asked members of the press corps to sign a media access policy. Most press corps members at the time chose not to sign the agreement, so they lost access to the building. In their place is a new press corps that signed the agreement. The new press corps includes more than 70 independent journalists, bloggers and social media influencers.

Nearly 20 War Department officials, both civilian and military, spoke with more than two dozen members of the new press corps during a series of some 150 one-on-one interviews, Wilson said.

"In addition to media row, the new press corps engaged with me during my press briefing on Tuesday and met with Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday," she added. Most of the members of the new press corps are not associated with legacy media outlets, including print media such as newspapers and magazines, and broadcast media, like cable television news.

"We're excited to continue our work getting the department's message out directly to the American people," she said.

The secretary this week also kicked off the Christmas season with a new tradition, Wilson said.

The tree replaced a 17-year-old Amelanchier shrub that had recently fallen into decline and was scheduled for removal next year.

Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer, dedicated a 14-foot Nellie Stevens Holly Christmas tree to the families of U.S. service members Wednesday during an inaugural tree lighting ceremony in the Pentagon's courtyard, she said.

"This tree is expected to eventually grow over 30 feet tall and live for more than 50 years," Wilson said. "The inaugural tree lighting ceremony was the first of a handful of Christmas events the Pentagon has scheduled for this month."

During his remark at the ceremony, Hegseth said while there is a high level of commercialism attached to the Christmas season, it's important for all Christians to reflect on their faith at this time of year.

"In this season of advent, Christians are called to pause and reflect ... to turn away from the things of the world and look upward toward the anticipation of the coming of our savior," Hegseth said.

He expressed gratitude for the men and women serving in the military across the globe this Christmas season and throughout the year.