SASC Chairman Roger Wicker Lauds Secretary Hegseth’s Drone Dominance Demand Signal to American Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement:

"Secretary Hegseth's approach to buying hundreds of thousands of small drones for our military is exactly right. This summer, Chairman Rogers and I worked to ensure this was possible when we placed $2.5 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to build a strong American drone industry. This initiative taps into America's innovative defense industry, following President Trump's industry-first approach in his Drone Dominance executive order."

"For years, Communist China has destroyed our drone industry with market manipulation. It is time we reverse this trend. We need a booming American drone industry to equip our troops at a reasonable cost and to compete globally in commercial markets. This funding will jumpstart our industry and can be supported with significant loans from DOD's Office of Strategic Capital as we open new factories across the United States. Combined with the FY25 NDAA's Section 1709 restriction, which aims to curtail the proliferation of Chinese drones and equipment, we are entering a golden age for American-made drones."