Pentagon Creates DRPM-UxS Drone Czar, Pulls Programs From Services
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a June 29 memo creating the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems, a new office that will oversee tens of billions of dollars in drone programs across every service.
Key Takeaways
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a June 29 memo (public July 1) creating the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems (DRPM-UxS), reporting directly to Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg.
The office centralizes acquisition authority over roughly $75 billion in unmanned programs, pulling authorities from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force and serving as milestone decision authority behind only Hegseth and Feinberg.
DRPM-UxS absorbs Joint Interagency Task Force 401 and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, covering small UAVs, counter-UAS, unmanned surface vessels and ground robots, with the Defense Innovation Unit feeding in commercial prototypes.
The memo carves out the Navy's medium unmanned surface vehicle program, the MQ-25 Stingray, the MQ-4C Triton and the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
The move responds to criticism of fragmented drone spending and aims to close a capability gap with China and Russia; likely beneficiaries include AeroVironment's counter-drone portfolio, Anduril's Arsenal-1 and the Palantir-Shield AI Hivemind stack.
Kaan Tınmaz
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memo creating a new office to steer tens of billions of dollars in unmanned-systems programs, in a move that pulls acquisition authority out of the individual military services and centralizes it under a single senior official reporting to the Deputy Secretary of War.
A Single Drone Portfolio Manager
The memo, dated June 29 and made public on July 1, establishes the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems (DRPM-UxS). The office will "direct all activities to develop, procure, field, sustain and operationalize unmanned and autonomous systems across all domains," according to the memo, and will report directly to Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg. It will serve as the milestone decision authority for its programs, sitting behind only Hegseth and Feinberg on drone acquisition matters.
Scope And Carve-Outs
DRPM-UxS will absorb the recently created Joint Interagency Task Force 401 and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG). The Defense Innovation Unit is expected to feed prototypes into the portfolio through its existing commercial pipeline. Small unmanned aerial vehicles, counter-UAS, unmanned surface vessels and ground robots are all in scope. The memo notably carves out the Navy's medium unmanned surface vehicle program along with the MQ-25 Stingray, the MQ-4C Triton and the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Why Now
The reorganization follows years of Congressional and internal criticism that the Pentagon's unmanned budget - now estimated at roughly $75 billion across programs - was fragmented among the services with little coordination on autonomy stacks, common data links or manufacturing scale. By pulling authorities from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force into one office, Hegseth aims to accelerate fielding to close what senior officials describe as a widening gap with Chinese and Russian unmanned capability. Industry watchers see clear beneficiaries in the growing AeroVironment counter-drone portfolio, Anduril's Arsenal-1 line and the Palantir-Shield AI Hivemind stack, all of which now have a single procurement door.
Reporting based on coverage from USNI News, Military Times, Breaking Defense and DroneXL.
The Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems is a new Pentagon office created by a June 29 memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It will direct all activities to develop, procure, field, sustain and operationalize unmanned and autonomous systems across all domains, reporting directly to Deputy Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg.
Which drone programs are excluded from the new office?
The memo carves out the Navy's medium unmanned surface vehicle program, the MQ-25 Stingray, the MQ-4C Triton and the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Why did the Pentagon centralize unmanned systems acquisition?
Years of Congressional and internal criticism held that the roughly $75 billion unmanned budget was fragmented across the services with little coordination on autonomy stacks, common data links or manufacturing scale. Centralization is meant to accelerate fielding and close a widening gap with Chinese and Russian unmanned capability.
Which companies stand to benefit from the reorganization?
Industry watchers point to AeroVironment's growing counter-drone portfolio, Anduril's Arsenal-1 line and the Palantir-Shield AI Hivemind stack, all of which now have a single procurement door at the Pentagon.
