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Pentagon Creates New Office to Manage All Military Drone and Autonomous Systems Programs
The new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems will centralize funding, acquisition and policy decisions. It reports directly to Deputy Secretary of War Stephen Feinberg.
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The Pentagon announced Wednesday the creation of the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems office, Fox News reported. The office consolidates oversight of all military drones and autonomous systems across land, sea and air domains. The new office reports directly to Deputy Secretary of War Stephen Feinberg.
It will manage funding, acquisition and policy for unmanned systems programs spread across the military services, the Defense Innovation Unit, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said drones and autonomous systems represent the most consequential battlefield innovation of this generation.
He noted that adversaries collectively produce millions of unmanned systems each year across all domains.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has promoted the administration's Drone Dominance initiative, described as a billion-dollar program funded by President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. The Pentagon plans to deliver tens of thousands of small drones to U.S. forces in 2026 and hundreds of thousands by 2027.
Elon Musk wrote on X last year that drones are the future of warfare and manned aircraft are not. The department said the office will consolidate specialized expertise under a single leadership structure to speed development and fielding of autonomous capabilities.
