The Pentagon’s DOGE unit is leading efforts to overhaul the US military drone programme, including streamlining procurement, expand homegrown production, and acquire tens of thousands of cheap drones in the coming months, according to Pentagon officials and people with knowledge of the matter.
In July, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth pledged to cut red tape and assert US drone dominance by approving hundreds of American-made drone models and launching training programmes to prepare units for "drone wars" — a response to the widespread use of drones on Ukraine’s battlefield, which have exposed US drone limitations.
The Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) involvement, which has not been previously reported, grants the unit influence over a US military drone programme that President Donald Trump designated a defence priority in a June executive order, five people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a comment request. The Pentagon is trying to overcome a mixed track record on acquiring drones. In 2023, Pentagon leaders announced the Replicator initiative, a department-wide effort to acquire and field thousands of autonomous drones by August 2025. However, the Department of Defense has not provided an update on the current status of the programme.
In September, a Pentagon official said Replicator capabilities were being "transitioned to the appropriate end state users," according to the trade publication Defense Scoop. Reuters could not determine how the DOGE effort would impact the Replicator initiative.
Trump has ordered the department to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress.
DOGE, originally spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk, has cut billions of dollars of government programmes, including many at the Pentagon, since Trump began his second term. The drone effort, a new task for the unit, is partly aimed at addressing the challenges of sourcing US-made drone platforms. Most US-made drones rely on Chinese components.
DOGE officials have requested information on drones from across the Pentagon, including the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit, seeking information about specifications, including weight and payload size, according to two of the people.
The DOGE team is expected to submit a report to an executive committee in the Office of the Secretary of Defense by next week, according to a person with knowledge. One of the goals is to acquire at least 30,000 drones in the coming months before ramping up further, one of the people said.
This would mark significant wins for US drone companies that have been angling to supply the Pentagon with cheap drones. Companies such as Red Cat, Skydio and PDW, which sell quadcopter models to the Army, for prices ranging from low thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands, are well positioned to benefit. Venture-backed startup Neros recently signed a contract with the Marines for its low-cost drone.
The DOGE drone team is being led by Owen West, a co-author of Hegseth’s drone memo issued in July who joined DOGE earlier this year, according to three of the people.
The former Marine and Goldman Sachs energy trader rejoined the military in 2017 as assistant secretary of defence overseeing special operations forces. West’s social media profile states that he has been a financial analyst at the Department of Defence since February.
West did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by David Jeans; Editing by Joe Brock and Richard Chang)