{"id":33727,"date":"2023-09-14T17:14:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T17:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/09\/14\/army-of-coders-needed-to-make-replicator-drone-initiative-a-success\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:15:48","slug":"army-of-coders-needed-to-make-replicator-drone-initiative-a-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2023\/09\/14\/army-of-coders-needed-to-make-replicator-drone-initiative-a-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Army of coders needed to make Replicator drone initiative a success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, the Pentagon unveiled its latest foil to Chinese military advantages in the Indo-Pacific: a plan to produce thousands of attritable autonomous drones dubbed \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.defense.gov%2FNews%2FSpeeches%2FSpeech%2FArticle%2F3507156%2Fdeputy-secretary-of-defense-kathleen-hicks-keynote-address-the-urgency-to-innov%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=zMHyXIsgLDr%2BwkLJU%2Ftd8YQ1tYtWQMZkrvW2CIt8ye0%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Replicator<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Details of the initiative are necessarily scant so as to not tip off China, but by and large, the initiative makes sense. This is a prudent first step by Pentagon leadership to acknowledge <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aei.org%2Fop-eds%2Fthe-bias-for-capability-over-capacity-has-created-a-brittle-force%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=GYtw1%2FZ1NPBI6RWmhU8ncV%2FzQsvS%2Bu3XPgpsWGcsGo4%3D&#038;reserved=0\">that mass<\/a> at an affordable price point is as important, if not more important, than ever more expensive and exquisite weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2023\/09\/06\/replicator-drone-program-does-not-require-new-money-hicks-says\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Kath-Hicks-DN-Conf.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Replicator drone program needs no new money, Hicks says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cWe\u2019re not creating new bureaucracy, and we will not be asking for new money in [fiscal 20]24,\u201d the deputy defense secretary says.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Follow-through is really what matters. And Replicator may just take one step back in our efforts to deter war in the Indo-Pacific if there isn\u2019t an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmwi.westpoint.edu%2Farmy-coders-training-force-multi-domain-fight%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=aCsUCLtqR0aX1Y4yospZ%2FXhtobV8h0MozVcS%2FbB%2BW6s%3D&#038;reserved=0\">army of coders<\/a>\u201d behind it, enabling the initiative\u2019s drones to be programmed, re-programmed, trained and re-trained in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This program should be the first to acknowledge that both software and data production are not the province of contracting specialists but instead need to be a core military competency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The need for this \u201carmy of coders\u201d isn\u2019t limited to the Department of Defense (DoD); it\u2019s a government-wide problem. As Jennifer Pahlka explains in her book, <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.recodingamerica.us%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=SLcc9HIJ3uRiPEvYWrbwn7hsdA13lx%2BLIb0NOR7ohB4%3D&#038;reserved=0\"><i>Recoding America<\/i><\/a>, there\u2019s a dearth of technologists at every level of government, from the policymakers at the top to the policy implementers at the bottom. And for the digital experts that the government does employ, rigid requirements imposed by Congress and sometimes even stricter interpretations of these requirements by lawyers and contracting officers leave our warfighters without the freedom to pursue creative software solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pile on top an adherence to compliance over outcomes and you have a Pentagon that is hamstrung in its ability to provide warfighting capability that makes sense to any eighteen-year-old service member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting different results, then Replicator will be a one-way ticket to the asylum. The Pentagon cannot even procure software to manage its <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aei.org%2Fforeign-and-defense-policy%2Fdefense-travel-modernization-business-as-usual-at-the-pentagon%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=bEQMQqUew6mY4jxcU%2B5Iv3H9NlNx9YaHbndrmH7f9WA%3D&#038;reserved=0\">travel vouchers<\/a>, so why should anyone be confident that what\u2019s essentially a hugely complicated software project will work during war? While the prospects for success may be low at this time, Replicator can be made a success if it employs a skilled, dedicated workforce of coders: an army of coders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Details on the specific drone platforms that will be deployed as part of Replicator are few and far between but those are immaterial. Whether it be <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationaldefensemagazine.org%2Farticles%2F2023%2F2%2F23%2Fsaildrone-displays-usv-tech-on-tails-of-bilateral-exercise&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=PBc2QxBLHwQymDLXsT4shfFgOZePRjswXNa6ChHhY3Y%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Saildrones<\/a> as in Task Force 59, small drones that can be networked together to engage in <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rand.org%2Fblog%2F2023%2F06%2Fcan-cheap-drones-be-the-answer-to-tensions-in-the-taiwan.html&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=9Eoyvlk28Fb%2FPgkP9jOtK4tS8th3%2F%2FBVIDzkVv%2FGmGs%3D&#038;reserved=0\">swarming tactics<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbreakingdefense.com%2F2023%2F09%2Ffor-replicator-to-work-the-pentagon-needs-to-directly-help-with-production%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=5XN5gA7q4kEzZCGKKk%2FL%2Fla516jMiHB15wqMKXQY9f4%3D&#038;reserved=0\">other platforms<\/a> better fit for the distances of the Pacific, humans must be in the loop to alter the code, feed in updated data, and respond to enemy software attacks in real-time. If we want to see this today, just look at <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2022%2Fdec%2F18%2Four-weapons-are-computers-ukrainian-coders-aim-to-gain-battlefield-edge&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=70N7VcdYU8aACIKi5%2FACp2%2BzL3%2BdOnRDiCr64a1QF%2Bs%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Ukraine<\/a>. The side that will win in future conflicts is the one that can sling the code faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4215\" height=\"2988\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-32331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg 4215w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg?resize=300,213 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg?resize=768,544 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg?resize=1024,726 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1089 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635555575433409130-acyb1jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1452 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4215px) 100vw, 4215px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FORT GORDON NELSON HALL, Augusta, Georgia, June 10, 2014 \u2013 The U.S. Army\u2019s \u2018Cyber Center of Excellence\u2019, Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, hosted a multi-service \u2018NetWar\u2019 to show, and build, cyber Warrior capabilities Tuesday, June 10.  Twenty-eight Soldiers, Airmen, Navy and Marine Corps computer professionals comprised four teams representing the U.S. Army\u2019s active, reserve and National Guard with one Joint-services team that included a U.S. Special Operations Command civilian.  The scenarios tasked teams to reach three kinetic objectives given notional operation orders and varying levels of difficulty.  Manipulating in miniaturized city structures the mimicry encouraged communication and knowledge sharing.  \u201cIt reinforces the idea of a truly blended battlefield,\u201d Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sam Blaney, an information and technology manager for the Georgia National Guard\u2019s joint force headquarters in Marietta, Georgia.  \u201cIt challenges us while testing our mettle to overcome in a crunch.\u201d  Team Bravo, the multi-state U.S. Army National Guard team, completed the first mission through innovation and teamwork.  \u201cThey were the first to write their own script (computer specific algorithm code) and use SQLMAP (an open source database takeover tool) to clear their objective,\u201d Tim Medin, SANS Institute CyberCity co-creator and exercise facilitator, said. (Georgia Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Tracy J. Smith)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, how do we build an army of coders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, the services should take the <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Finnovation.defense.gov%2FPortals%2F63%2Fdocuments%2FRecommendations%2FPeople%2520and%2520Culture%2520-%2520Recommendation%25202%2520Embed%2520Computer%2520Science.pdf%3Fver%3D2020-09-08-121955-913&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=7CZyqKjCv6YpfIB%2FNTlvBzkNEmf0UyLEIQ1UftIcPPk%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Defense Innovation Board\u2019s<\/a> advice and start by both creating and expanding <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmwi.westpoint.edu%2Fis-the-army-ready-to-think-like-a-tech-company-why-the-service-needs-to-value-coding-the-same-way-as-shooting%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=rZU5JWa2twstudZJ9efRCCNL%2BFpFiWYWFDJDO0EsriY%3D&#038;reserved=0\">career fields<\/a> explicitly dedicated to software development, a problem for <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spaceforce.mil%2FPortals%2F1%2FApplication%2520Attachment%25203%2520-%2520USSF%2520Specialty%2520Code%2520Crosswalk_1.pdf&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=0bvNWf%2BCxv5AilLAP%2FSP7uJr8cbq7QYFyNATAL434FE%3D&#038;reserved=0\">some of the services<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Second, for those already in uniform, the services should coordinate efforts to rotate service members through training courses at their software factories, like the Army\u2019s aptly-named <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.army.mil%2Farticle%2F256990%2Fsoftware_factory_helps_transform_army_from_industrial_to_information_age&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286340112%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=7Jeyl8baN8q9h6nsWPCiMz6PSF9W5xEGGMEOQvKAn1k%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Software Factory<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Third, once finished training, the services should take a page out of <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fukraines-deadly-computer-science-brigade-russia-invasion-drone-engineer-software-wartime-weaponry-production-e0643979&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286496357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=HJPFsokju2YJ%2Frkvk7Tp0qS4jdls70WjQoaRQYHtm3M%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Ukraine\u2019s book<\/a> and drive down tactical and operational decisions to the lower rungs of the force, putting software solutions as close to the operators as possible. That means personnel coding and solving problems in real-time side-by-side with drone users, and empowered to seek solutions without seeking permission from above. These coders should be assigned to the services\u2019 command organizations under a combatant command, putting them all under the same roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, an army of coders should control the code on which Replicator\u2019s drones will run, freeing them from relying on contractors for access. The military must acknowledge that the ability to code weapons which kill people sometimes runs into direct conflict with companies\u2019 commercial needs, as the Ukrainians recently found out with <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Fspacex-ukraine-starlink-russia-air-force-fde93d9a69d7dbd1326022ecfdbc53c2&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286496357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=IJFwWh2VgQeryLljuCAezbbB9cN%2BXBxmHFQg7xydy2k%3D&#038;reserved=0\">Elon Musk and Starlink<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Replicator may fail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given its ambitious plans, there are a lot of ways that Replicator can fail. Existing <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.defense.gov%2FNews%2FSpeeches%2FSpeech%2FArticle%2F3517213%2Fdeputy-secretary-of-defense-kathleen-hicks-remarks-unpacking-the-replicator-ini%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286496357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=hdGbQOZP6Ax0xa80KSOK4PZhJ%2BKAtjGL99xFusw6QY8%3D&#038;reserved=0\">funding lines<\/a> may not be enough, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbreakingdefense.com%2F2023%2F09%2Ffor-replicator-to-work-the-pentagon-needs-to-directly-help-with-production%2F&#038;data=05%7C01%7Ccary.oreilly%40mco.com%7C11e69f4d8df74cd3c19a08dbb539d7ac%7C1d5c96e57ee2446dbed8d0f8c50edea5%7C1%7C1%7C638303032286496357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&#038;sdata=GsNd9%2F%2BaZ0WVJQOzZWMeZRInCpWDmkT5Ljsoy5SlRnU%3D&#038;reserved=0\">defense industrial base<\/a> may be unable to handle building thousands of drones, and the list goes on. But even if these problems are solved and Replicator\u2019s drones are fielded, there will still be a need for coders to support them. And for that, an army will be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John Ferrari is a senior nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. Ferrari previously served as a director of program analysis and evaluation for the Army. Charles Rahr is a research assistant at AEI.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The program should be the first to acknowledge that both software and data production need to be core military competencies, the authors argue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":24,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,29,32,24,56,57,21,111],"tags":[8472],"coauthors":[7713,4743],"class_list":["post-33727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battlefield-tech","category-home","category-newsletters","category-opinion","category-robotics","category-uas","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems","tag-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"54TJYWE3CNCYVDJWBAPS2EX64I","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/2023\/09\/14\/army-of-coders-needed-to-make-replicator-drone-initiative-a-success\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army of coders needed to make Replicator drone initiative a success - C4ISRNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The program should be the first to acknowledge that both software and data production need to be core military competencies, the authors argue.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Army of coders needed to make Replicator drone initiative a success\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The program should be the first to acknowledge that both software and data production need to be core military competencies, the authors argue.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2023\/09\/14\/army-of-coders-needed-to-make-replicator-drone-initiative-a-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"C4ISRNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-14T17:14:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T16:15:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"U.S. Army Maj. 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