Pentagon has sent military personnel to Ukraine to study combat experience with use of drones, - Hegseth
Drone Industry
The Pentagon has sent U.S. military personnel to Ukraine to study combat experience with the use of drones in real combat conditions. The U.S. is interested in adopting Ukrainian best practices in the field of countering and deploying UAVs.
According to media reports, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made this statement during Senate committee hearings, Censor.NET reports, citing RBC-Ukraine.
Learning from Ukraine's experience
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Ukraine the "Silicon Valley of war" and asked whether Pete Hegseth supports trips there by Pentagon officials to gain experience.
Hegseth confirmed this and clarified that he personally approved sending additional personnel.
The purpose of trips is to study drone technologies directly on the battlefield.
To ensure that we're learning every possible lesson from that conflict and incorporating it in real time into how we defend and we go on offense in an era where drone dominance is required," he said.
Expenses for drones
According to Hegseth, this is exactly why the budget spends so much on drones.
"Take the lessons learned from Ukraine and other battlefields and ensure we're applying them throughout the fighting force as quickly as possible," Hegseth said.
Ukraine is a leader in UAV development
Senator Chris Coons called Ukraine the leader in drone development and counter-drone warfare.
He recalled that the US, while fighting Iran, also faced the problem of cheap mass-produced Shahed drones and urged Washington to realize that Ukraine already has an answer to this threat.
