{"id":38130,"date":"2025-10-15T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2025\/10\/15\/armys-big-drone-ambition-runs-into-the-hard-part-scaling-up\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:22:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:22:34","slug":"armys-big-drone-ambition-runs-into-the-hard-part-scaling-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2025\/10\/15\/armys-big-drone-ambition-runs-into-the-hard-part-scaling-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Army\u2019s big drone ambition runs into the hard part: scaling up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. \u2014 The U.S. Army is racing to turn its aging organic industrial base into a modern drone factory network \u2014 and learning just how hard it is to move from prototypes to mass production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe know how to manufacture things. There\u2019s not a problem with that, but UAS, they are different,\u201d Lt. Gen. Christopher Mohan, acting commander of Materiel Command, told Defense News in a recent interview. \u201cWe can do the wiring harnesses. We could do some of the microelectronics, but either we don\u2019t have the capability, such as the brushless motors, and we have to buy the machinery to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army\u2019s push comes amid lessons from the war in Ukraine, where inexpensive drones and loitering munitions have reshaped the battlefield and overwhelmed conventional forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine and Russia are churning them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Catching up <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The United States, by contrast, has struggled to scale production, relying on commercial suppliers and small pilot runs. Officials say that gap underscores the need for a domestic, high-volume industrial network capable of rapidly fielding thousands of drones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a challenge the Army\u2019s SkyFoundry is designed to tackle, even as the service confronts technical, bureaucratic and funding hurdles. The effort is turning depots and arsenals that once built tank parts and artillery shells into a distributed network of drone factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The goal is to mass-produce small, expendable, unmanned aircraft \u2014 the kind flooding battlefields in Ukraine \u2014 at a rate of 10,000 systems per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The industrial base has struggled to build capability to mass produce drones. Unlike in Ukraine, \u201cWe don\u2019t have that existential crisis,\u201d Col. Eloy Martinez, the commander of Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, told Defense News on a recent visit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a lot of laws that we have to abide by \u2026 it\u2019s the bureaucratic stuff that\u2019s always downhill,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we break these barriers? How do we reduce that time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What\u2019s imperative is that the Army figure out how to move as fast as possible now, according to Brig. Gen. Beth Behn, commander of Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, told Defense News at Rock Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The general had spent six months with Security Assistance Group-Ukraine in the summer and fall of 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo I had a front row seat to the conflict, and I came back with my hair on fire,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have got to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behn returned from the experience to realize how little the dramatically evolving drone threat had penetrated the thinking within the Army. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re almost two years later, and so now we\u2019ve got drone operator courses and we are doing production, and we\u2019ve fielded capabilities to our [Transformation in Contact] formations, so we are moving with speed,\u201d Behn said. \u201cI do think we\u2019re on the cusp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SkyFoundry takes shape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rock Island is primed to 3D print drones, having invested significantly in building a high-tech advanced manufacturing facility on post. One building is filled with various printers capable of producing a wide array of parts and components in various materials, such as metals and composites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The arsenal is already producing drone bodies and frames using additive manufacturing, and a variety of different 3D-printed options sat on a display table just outside of a massive room dedicated to printing parts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rock Island is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a 3D-printing capability from Impossible Objects that will allow it to print 120,000 drone bodies per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe should be installing that or closing the deal on the contract,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have that early part of the spring, late winter time frame.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once operational, the printer could produce up to 60 small drones per hour at costs falling below $100 a drone, allowing the Army to create systems that can be expendable in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania is focusing on wiring harnesses, microelectronics and brushless motors, while Red River Army Depot in Texas will handle battery production and final assembly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRock Island will continue to print bodies. They will continue to print propellers and frames,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cTobyhanna will do the brushless motors. They will do the wiring harnesses and the microelectronics. Those systems will be shipped to Red River \u2026 for final assembly, testing, as well as manufacturing the batteries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mohan emphasized that Skyfoundry is \u201cnot a specific location. It\u2019s more of a concept.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The networked approach is designed to allow each site to specialize in a segment of the manufacturing process while sharing data, digital designs and software updates through a centralized repository. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got to have this digital repository,\u201d Mohan said, \u201cso that we can trade not only the electronic files for printing parts, but we have to own the tech data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bluegrass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, is going to serve as the UAS innovation center, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe already have, we do a lot of really neat stuff with UAS at Bluegrass already, and artificial intelligence enabled security, as well as some stuff for the Special Operations community, and we are gonna merge all of that there,\u201d Mohan added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army is still refining its requirements, Martinez said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey want a noun, which is the drone, but they can\u2019t tell us what drone, what type, what their capabilities are,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019re trying to flesh that out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rock Island team expects to produce drone bodies for the Army\u2019s goal of 1,000 UAS by the end of this fiscal year, with production scaling sharply by 2026, according to Greg Lupton, Rock Island deputy commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initial push to reach production of 10,000 drones per month carries a price tag of roughly $197 million, Mohan said, with $75 million of that going toward brushless motors and wiring capabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs soon as we get a budget, we will order that machinery,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about an eight-month lead time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6000\" height=\"3880\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-120215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg 6000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg?resize=768,497 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,662 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,993 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9049477.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1324 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6000px) 100vw, 6000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois is capable of producing a wide array of drone parts and components in various materials. (Kendall Swank\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army plans to spend another $150 million per year over the next three years to sustain and expand the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The modernization push also ties into broader initiatives to reduce reliance on overseas suppliers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNinety percent of UAS parts are coming out of China and Taiwan,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cThe systems we\u2019re building, we don\u2019t have Chinese parts in them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drone initiative fits into a broader effort to become less dependent on materials coming from China. AMC is trying to identify where it can set up rare earth mineral processing and lithium production within Army installations and bring manufacturers and mining companies onto those installations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Red River Army Depot, Mohan noted, sits on top of a large lithium deposit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s a synergy that we\u2019re trying to aim at there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army will also need to figure out how to issue and account for the drones, Mohan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe focus right now is to get them at scale to our training centers, so we\u2019ll ship to the National Training Center, JRTC, Joint Readiness Training Center, as well as to those units who have not had the ability to use UAS because they haven\u2019t had the money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first 50 systems will go to I Corps at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Mohan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are on the cusp of an accelerated sprint on UAS production,\u201d Lupton said. \u201cOnce it\u2019s operational, its capacity is significant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Army&#8217;s nationwide \u201cSkyfoundry\u201d effort is turning depots and arsenals that once built tank parts and artillery shells into a network of drone factories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120212,"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":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3286],"class_list":["post-38130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battlefield-tech","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FNMEREBWUBC5JMEL5PYT2345NM","arc_canonical_url":"\/land\/2025\/10\/15\/armys-big-drone-ambition-runs-into-the-hard-part-scaling-up\/","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\u2019s big drone ambition runs into the hard part: scaling up - C4ISRNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Army&#039;s nationwide \u201cSkyfoundry\u201d effort is turning depots and arsenals that once built tank parts and artillery shells into a network of drone factories.\" \/>\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\u2019s big drone ambition runs into the hard part: scaling up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Army&#039;s nationwide \u201cSkyfoundry\u201d effort is turning depots and arsenals that once built tank parts and artillery shells 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