Ukraine is implementing innovations in military technologies and concepts at a rate much faster than the United States government.

Jane Harman, Chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy, stated this during a hearing in Congress, Voice of America reports.

Speakers at the hearings noted that the United States should launch a multi-year investment in national security and the industrial base.

It should also adjust its priorities and use national security funds more effectively.

‘We need to stimulate change. Ukraine and Russia are innovating on the battlefield, and it takes weeks, not years. I was in Kyiv last week, and before that in April, and I saw it with my own eyes. If the Department of Defence cannot move at the same speed and scale, it will lose,’ Jane Harman shared.

The report with recommendations outlines that the Commission on the National Defense Strategy considers some procurement research and development practices, as well as an excessive risk-avoidance culture, outdated for the modern strategic environment.

The report states that examples of rapid change and industrial involvement, such as the US Space Force, the Defence Innovation Agency, and the Strategic Capital Management Office, remain the exception rather than the rule.

Jane Harman stressed during the hearing that projects that have not demonstrated significant value should not be funded.

‘We just need to ask what Ukraine can teach us. Ukraine can teach us, in particular, that you can build a drone for $350. My comment on this is that you can’t buy a cup of coffee in the Pentagon for $350, and we are talking about our future,’ she concluded.

Drones for the US Army

Previously, the United States Army has chosen new Ghost X and C100 drones to reinforce its infantry.

The software of both drones includes target recognition capabilities.

The selected drones will take place in an intermediate niche between small quadcopters in platoons and battalion-level UAVs with RQ-20 Puma and other UAVs.