Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

America’s Drone Crisis: ‘Made in America’ Is Nearly Impossible
National Security Journal ^ | 8/11/2025 | Mike Jernigan

Posted on 08/11/2025 10:05:05 AM PDT by whyilovetexas111

While a new Pentagon policy makes it easier for Marines to acquire and experiment with small drones, the U.S. military faces a catastrophic drone gap with Russia and China. A recent exercise highlighted the poor performance of the few approved, American-made models. The root of the problem is a nearly extinct domestic manufacturing base, leaving the U.S. unable to produce drones at scale without relying on Chinese components.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalsecurityjournal.org ...


TOPICS: Government; History; Military/Veterans; Politics
KEYWORDS: antiamericanism; aviation; bloggers; blogpimp; drones; ibtz; military; panicporn; russia; ukraine; usmarines; whyiloveblogpimps111; whyuhateamerica111; whyuhatetexas111
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last
To: NonValueAdded

The area around Fort Smith, Arkansas was once a center of expertise when it came to making dies and molds. Parts for washers, dryers, air conditioners, electric motors were stamped out by the tens if not hundreds of thousands 30 or 40 years ago. That was before Whirlpool and many others went to mesico. Most of those tool and die makers are gone now.

Maybe someone can ask ChatGPT or whatever how to make tools and dies or just have it do that for us?


21 posted on 08/11/2025 10:32:35 AM PDT by Sequoyah101
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: brent13a
I vote in favor of free trade.

Karl Marx

22 posted on 08/11/2025 10:32:48 AM PDT by central_va (The I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: brent13a

You and Marx have a lot in common, both of you are free traitors.


23 posted on 08/11/2025 10:34:24 AM PDT by central_va (The I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: whyilovetexas111

It’s unimportant where the chip capacitors are made than the microcomputer and the software that control it are “made”.

Oversimplification.


24 posted on 08/11/2025 10:35:50 AM PDT by bigbob (If thou doth eff around, thou wilt findeth out)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: central_va
You can shout all you like, but over here in objective reality I read all the words someone like Marx writes, and not just cool snippets and select phrases.

In fact, that's another tactic of Marxists: sloganeering

It's what democrats LOVE to do.
25 posted on 08/11/2025 10:35:55 AM PDT by brent13a
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: brent13a
Marxist free traitors like yourself are a ridiculous lot.
26 posted on 08/11/2025 10:37:23 AM PDT by central_va (The I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: central_va

I’m guessing you skipped all the annoying bits (about creating a racialist society using Marx’s tactics) in Mein Kampf (both volumes) and only read the “cool quotes” cliff notes version of what Hitler had to say.


27 posted on 08/11/2025 10:40:21 AM PDT by brent13a
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: whyilovetexas111

America’s best and brightest are all going into either Wall Street and America’s bloated, debt-fed financialization industry, or social-media and what is effectively tracking/marketing software.

In Russia and China, their young engineers are sent to industries that produce things.

Sorry to break it to everyone, but that will never be fixed under our present fiat, debt-based, Federal Reserve monetary system.


28 posted on 08/11/2025 10:40:32 AM PDT by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: brent13a

Here in America, as we reflect on the many things we have to be grateful for, we should take a moment to recognize that one of the key factors behind our nation’s great prosperity is the open trade policy that allows the American people to freely exchange goods and services with free people around the world. The freedom to trade is not a new issue for America. In 1776 our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, charging the British with a number of offenses, among them, and I quote, “cutting off our trade with all parts of the world,” end quote.

And that same year, a Scottish economist named Adam Smith launched another revolution with a book entitled “The Wealth of Nations,” which exposed for all time the folly of protectionism. Over the past 200 years, not only has the argument against tariffs and trade barriers won nearly universal agreement among economists but it has also proven itself in the real world, where we have seen free-trading nations prosper while protectionist countries fall behind.

America’s most recent experiment with protectionism was a disaster for the working men and women of this country. When Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff in 1930, we were told that it would protect America from foreign competition and save jobs in this country—the same line we hear today. The actual result was the Great Depression, the worst economic catastrophe in our history; one out of four Americans were thrown out of work. Two years later, when I cast my first ballot for President, I voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who opposed protectionism and called for the repeal of that disastrous tariff.

Ever since that time, the American people have stayed true to our heritage by rejecting the siren song of protectionism. In recent years, the trade deficit led some misguided politicians to call for protectionism, warning that otherwise we would lose jobs. But they were wrong again. In fact, the United States not only didn’t lose jobs, we created more jobs than all the countries of Western Europe, Canada, and Japan combined. The record is clear that when America’s total trade has increased, American jobs have also increased. And when our total trade has declined, so have the number of jobs.

Part of the difficulty in accepting the good news about trade is in our words. We too often talk about trade while using the vocabulary of war. In war, for one side to win, the other must lose. But commerce is not warfare. Trade is an economic alliance that benefits both countries. There are no losers, only winners. And trade helps strengthen the free world.

Yet today protectionism is being used by some American politicians as a cheap form of nationalism, a fig leaf for those unwilling to maintain America’s military strength and who lack the resolve to stand up to real enemies—countries that would use violence against us or our allies. Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag. The expansion of the international economy is not a foreign invasion; it is an American triumph, one we worked hard to achieve, and something central to our vision of a peaceful and prosperous world of freedom.

After the Second World War, America led the way to dismantle trade barriers and create a world trading system that set the stage for decades of unparalleled economic growth. And in one week, when important multilateral trade talks are held in Montreal, we will be in the forefront of efforts to improve this system. We want to open more markets for our products, to see to it that all nations play by the rules, and to seek improvement in such areas as dispute resolution and agriculture. We also want to bring the benefits of free trade to new areas, including services, investment, and the protection of intellectual property. Our negotiators will be working hard for all of us.

Yes, back in 1776, our Founding Fathers believed that free trade was worth fighting for. And we can celebrate their victory because today trade is at the core of the alliance[s] that secure the peace and guarantee our freedom; it is the source of our prosperity and the path to an even brighter future for America.

Until next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN (1988)


29 posted on 08/11/2025 10:42:50 AM PDT by In_Iowa_not_from
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: ComputerGuy

Even the most adventurous can’t buy raw materials without going through our enemies.


30 posted on 08/11/2025 10:43:16 AM PDT by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: whyilovetexas111

Y’all dance around this!
America’s problem is Democrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We fought a war with them, we beat them, a man foolishly
forgave them, they killed him, and now we have to deal with them again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To fix our problem, we just need to convince a small proportion of our population to leave.
Liberal white women and a few black liberals.
Then we “re-man” our Media and all our lives will be improved.
Are Y’all smart enough to catch how easy my solution is?


31 posted on 08/11/2025 10:43:21 AM PDT by rellic (No such thing as a moderate Moslem or Democrat )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: whyilovetexas111

Don’t tell Palmer Lucky.

He doesn’t realize that we can’t make drones in the USA.

https://www.anduril.com/hardware/ghost-autonomous-suas/


32 posted on 08/11/2025 10:46:01 AM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, and you should never wish to do less.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: In_Iowa_not_from

Reagan wasn’t perfect but he brought massive economic growth. We should be doing the same on all our fronts.


33 posted on 08/11/2025 10:46:25 AM PDT by brent13a
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

America’s best and brightest are all going into either Wall Street and America’s bloated, debt-fed financialization industry, or social-media and what is effectively tracking/marketing software.


“Did you know I built a bridge, once?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Mc-38C88g


34 posted on 08/11/2025 10:47:37 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: whyilovetexas111
There are numerous American players and start-ups in the marketplace including RedCat, Unusual Machines, and others. And there's government and investment money flowing to them to help them scale-up production. This issue will be fixed in the short-to-medium term.

In the meantime, the investment market for American drone manufacturers is hot and getting hotter.
35 posted on 08/11/2025 10:49:25 AM PDT by Antoninus (Republicans are all honorable men.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: In_Iowa_not_from

Reagan was wrong about a lot of things, this is one example.


36 posted on 08/11/2025 10:49:58 AM PDT by central_va (The I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: ComputerGuy
A few aggressive, patriotic businessmen could fix that in 6-12 months.

It's already in the process of being fixed.
37 posted on 08/11/2025 10:50:03 AM PDT by Antoninus (Republicans are all honorable men.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: whyilovetexas111

“”The root of the problem is a nearly extinct domestic manufacturing base, leaving the U.S.””

The root of the problem is leftist Democrats... ie the Marxist liars that have driven manufacturing out of the country via labor unions, demanding higher and higher wages, their war on corporate America, and via stifling regulations, along with their stupid green energy BS. All done to aid and abet their real loyalties... which does not include the USA. Unless or until these cretins are dealt with appropriately... the problem will persist.

Trump is trying, but he is getting resistance even from those supposedly on his side. We need to fix that, somehow, some way. Making the stupid half of America aware of these issues would be a good start.


38 posted on 08/11/2025 10:51:17 AM PDT by Danie_2023
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: brent13a

We should deport all free traitors.


39 posted on 08/11/2025 10:51:24 AM PDT by central_va (The I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Williams

> It can be done if we make the commitment.

Knowing the Military Industrial Complex, each one will cost $200K each and be hand assembled at a full production rate of 100/month.


40 posted on 08/11/2025 10:51:53 AM PDT by glorgau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson