Facing a critical production gap against adversaries, the Pentagon is pivoting to high-volume manufacturing, investing $56 billion to field 300,000 low-cost, expendable drones by 2027. By: Tuva Siegel, Warrior Editorial Fellow As the United States wages an ongoing conflict with Iran, driven by the recent shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone, the Pentagon continues to accelerate efforts to close its gap in drone production.