Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has consolidated nearly all of the Pentagon’s drone and autonomous systems programs under a single new office that reports directly to his deputy and will oversee what Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell called “the most consequential battlefield innovation of this generation.”
The Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems, or DRPM-UxS, will become “the single joint integrator for all unmanned and autonomous system programs” in the department, according to a June 29 memo the Pentagon made public Wednesday. Its director, yet to be named, will answer to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg and oversee how the military develops, buys, fields and sustains unmanned systems in the air, on the ground and at sea.