Pentagon technology chief Emil Michael said U.S. defense officials had not anticipated the drone warfare seen in Ukraine and said battlefield needs led Kyiv to develop capabilities Washington had not supplied.
Speaking Nov. 4 at a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Napa, Michael said Pentagon officials and defense contractors had not focused on this kind of fighting. “We weren’t prepared because we just didn’t imagine it,” he said. Michael said Ukraine’s battlefield demands prompted the country to devise its own drone capabilities, while the U.S. had sent larger weapons. He described Ukrainian efforts as “all kinds of incredibly creative things.”
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said in January the country planned to produce more than 7 million drones in 2026. In July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was producing 10 million annually. The statements use different measures: the first was a 2026 plan, while the second described annual output. The ministry also named domestically produced drones as a priority alongside air defense and extended-range munitions, and said unmanned systems support Ukraine’s asymmetric defense.
Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus raised a related concern about the pace of military adaptation at the NDTV World Summit in New Delhi on Oct. 23. He said militaries could not wait five years to redesign themselves, a warning EconoTimes previously covered in its report on Petraeus’ call for broader military changes.
Project Meridian, which MITRE describes as an open effort to examine future warfare and technology 10 to 30 years out, is a Pentagon initiative focused on long-term questions. MITRE says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Department of War’s chief technology officer, Emil Michael, to initiate the project, and MITRE was selected to lead it. The open call is not a procurement solicitation and is not connected to an active or anticipated contract award, according to MITRE. Submissions are due Nov. 12, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
