Israel and Ukraine have used drones against their adversaries in audacious ways that have helped the Pentagon see the need for new technology.

Hegseth announced the directive in a flashy video, equipped with a drone delivering him the memo, posted to X, formerly Twitter.

D-Fend Solutions has built an anti-drone system known as EnforceAir2, which uses protocol-based mitigation, allowing users to take control of enemy drones.

The memo directs the military services to create active duty formations by September, built for the sole purpose of scaling the use of drones across DOD.

The micro-drone appears to be roughly the size of a human fingernail and features tiny, leaf-like wings and thin, wiry legs.

The early attempt at drones in World War II saw the Army Air Forces convert B-17 bombers into remote-controlled flying bombs.

Remote pilots and crews operating drones in warfare would become eligible for combat-related services through the Department of Veterans Affairs under a measure in the Senate version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

NATO fighter jets were scrambled on Saturday after Vladimir Putin unleashed the most intense wave of drone and missile attacks on western Ukraine since the start of the war. Russia is believed to have launched up to 30 missiles and 700 military drones in a major escalation overnight, targeting cities including Lviv, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi.

On June 1, using hundreds of short-range one-way attack drones smuggled deep into Russian territory, Ukraine was able to significantly damage or destroy at least 11 Russian strategic bombers as part of its Operation Spider’s Web.