In the latest US Army TRADOC’s Mad Scientist blog, John Bitterman, Elise Annett, and Dr. James Giordano address the expanding weaponized capabilities – and threats – of unmanned vehicular systems when coupled to iterative forms of artificial intelligence.

While the U.S. was the first nation to embrace the use of unmanned systems several decades ago, it has been slow to transform how it uses these capabilities for warfighting.  Until recently, these coveted, exquisite systems tended to be judiciously employed as national assets supporting critical missions.  That all changed on 10 July 2025 when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced his initiative — Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance.

This post explores how the United States can rapidly harness this transformative capability, providing us with a roadmap for Secretary Hegseth’s vision — “unleashing the combined potential of American manufacturing and warfighter ingenuity.”  Read on to learn how we could “set the stage for next-generation autonomous systems.”

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John Bitterman (CDR, USCG, ret.) is a Non-resident Research Fellow in the INSS Center for Disruptive Technology and Future Warfare (CDTFW) 

Elise Annett is the Institutional Research, Assessment, and Accreditation Associate at the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University

Dr. James Giordano is the Director of the INSS Center for Disruptive Technology and Future Warfare (CDTFW)