The U.S. Army is beginning its largest restructuring since the Cold War, aiming to modernize its force with a $36 billion investment over the next five years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The news outlet said the overhaul will focus heavily on drones and advanced weapons systems. Each of the Army’s 10 active-duty divisions is expected to receive around 1,000 drones for surveillance, supply delivery, and offensive missions.
Despite the scale of the effort, Army leaders said they will not request additional funding. “We aren’t going to ask for more money,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told the Journal. “What we want to do is spend the money that we have better.”
The changes come in part from lessons learned in Ukraine, where drones have played a major role in fighting Russian forces.
Col. Donald Neal, who leads the Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment, said drones will be a regular part of future combat. “We’ve got to learn how to use drones, how to fight with them, how to scale them, produce them, and employ them in our fights so we can see beyond line of sight,” he told the Journal. “We’ve always had drones since I’ve been in the Army, but it has been very few.”
These efforts align with President Donald Trump’s push to overhaul the military in response to China’s growing threat. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Wednesday directing the Pentagon to “build a leaner, more lethal force” by eliminating outdated programs and streamlining operations.
“Simultaneously, the Army must prioritize investments in accordance with the Administration’s strategy, ensuring existing resources are prioritized to improve long-range precision fires, air and missile defense including through the Golden Dome for America, cyber, electronic warfare, and counter-space capabilities,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.
The U.S. Army, with approximately 450,000 active-duty soldiers and an annual budget of nearly $200 billion, last underwent a major equipment overhaul in the late 1970s and mid-1980s, according to Newsweek.
That modernization introduced the “Big Five” weapons systems: the M1 Abrams tank, M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter, and the Patriot air defense missile system.
