The number of UAVs—ah, that’s now UASes—in use in Southwest Asia just keeps growing. We reported some 750 in July; now Dyke Weatherington, DOD’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Planning Task Force deputy director, says there are “well over” 1,000 small, unmanned systems in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was briefing reporters Wednesday about the Pentagon’s new Unmanned Aerial Systems Roadmap.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to undertake far-reaching reforms on the way the U.S. military buys weapons, promising a sweeping overhaul of the way the Defense Department determines requirements, handles the acquisition process, and tests its kit. The fundamental goal, which Hegseth underscored in a 1-hour and 10-minute speech…


