The recently released United States defense budget suggests that the US military is reaching its capability and capacity limits. The US force—which consists almost entirely of crewed multimission ships, aircraft, and vehicles—is too expensive to grow within realistic fiscal constraints but too small to meet America’s growing national security needs. To fund next-generation crewed platforms and sustain those already in the force, the Pentagon now must retire more ships and aircraft each year than it buys.
The Department of Defense could escape this force structure death spiral by incorporating uncrewed systems as an integral part of the US military, rather than as extensions of the crewed force that handle only “dirty, dull, and dangerous” missions. As demonstrated by ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Red Sea, uncrewed systems could contribute to each link in US kill chains, improving the adaptability and resilience of US forces and achieving scale at much lower costs compared to crewed systems.
Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Dan Patt for a discussion with David Alexander, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, about the growing role of uncrewed systems in warfare, how the US could exploit uncrewed technology in “hedge forces” like those the Pentagon is pursuing through its Replicator initiative, and how the US military can improve its ability to integrate uncrewed technology into the force.
Join Hudson Institute for a conference with leaders from industry, government, academia, and defense to discuss the latest developments in the US-China AI competition.
Join House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (AL-03) for a fireside discussion with Senior Fellow Nadia Schadlow on Congress’s role in revitalizing America’s defense industrial base.
Join Hudson Institute for a discussion of how the US can build a more resilient and flexible energetics base—one that can meet sustained demand while accelerating the development and fielding of new capabilities.
Hudson welcomes Karel Řehka, former chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, to discuss the changing security environment in Europe and its implications for the Czech Republic, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the transatlantic alliance.
