Foreign Affairs: Drones Are Changing The Arsenal Of Democracy
- 28.09.2026, 16:21
The U.S. and its allies are redefining their approach to next-generation warfare.
The war in Ukraine has shown that it is not enough for Western countries to have a small number of expensive and technologically sophisticated weapons. The U.S. and its allies need to restructure their defense industries to enable mass production of drones and ammunition, writes Foreign Affairs (translation by Charter97.org).
As a key example, the publication cites the Ukrainian “Spider Web” operation on June 1, 2025, when drones struck Russian strategic aviation at several airfields. Kyiv claimed to have destroyed dozens of aircraft, although the extent of the damage could not be fully confirmed by independent sources.
The main advantage in the new war is not the cost of individual platforms, but the ability to rapidly produce and deploy large numbers of relatively inexpensive systems.
“Scale—the ability to deploy more weapons faster and for longer—is critical,” writes Foreign Affairs.
The West’s problem lies not only in insufficient production volumes. U.S. and allied military systems are often designed as closed platforms with proprietary software and do not interoperate well with one another. This slows down the flow of information and reduces the effectiveness of troops.
Special attention is given to artificial intelligence. The modern battlefield generates so much data that it is difficult for humans to process it fast enough. Therefore, armies must integrate various sensors and systems into a single digital environment.
Experts propose creating a common defense technology market for U.S. allies, where weapons compatibility will be the primary condition for supply.
“Digital and industrial interoperability is the foundation of national mobilization,” the article states.
This approach will make it possible to scale up production more quickly and, if necessary, mobilize the industrial capacity of different countries for a protracted conflict.