0:00 – Small-drone spending surges since Uthe kraine war 0:32 – Working with Obviant to track where the money is going 1:10 – Why small drones changed the battlefield (Ukraine examples) 2:16 – Operation “Spider’s Web” and why it became a turning point 2:50 – Congress reacts: new urgency and major spending increases 4:04 – “Drone Dominance” initiative and the race to scale up 4:27 – Two real examples of what the military is buying now 6:03 – Task Force ‘Scorpion Strike’ and early deployments 6:26 – The new procurement model and rapid manufacturing efforts 7:39 – Whether or not this investment will transfer to results on the battlefieldSince Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. has rapidly scaled up spending on small drones — quadrupling investment and reshaping how the Pentagon buys, tests, and fields new systems. In this Threat Status deep dive, Washington Times defense and national security correspondent John Seward follows the money with help from Obviant, a defense acquisition data platform built by synthesizing thousands of sources to deliver intelligence on where defense dollars are flowing.What we found isn’t just a surge in purchases — it’s a shift in strategy. The Pentagon is moving away from a small number of expensive, high-altitude surveillance platforms and toward thousands of cheaper, field-ready drones that can be carried by individual soldiers or used as one-way attack systems. We break down the major budget moves, the new “Drone Dominance” push, and two concrete examples of what the military is buying right now.In this video: • How Ukraine’s drone war triggered a massive U.S. spending ramp-up • Where the Pentagon’s small-drone billions are going — and what they’re buying • Why the U.S. is changing how it develops, tests, and fields drones (fast) • Two key systems under contract: Skydio’s short-range recon drones and a new one-way attack drone from Spektreworks • The bigger bet: drones as the default layer of modern warfare — and whether this investment pays off