The U.S. needs to master Ukraine’s cheap drone strategy

President Donald Trump got the U.S. into a global economic and geopolitical mess with his Iran war. It was all predictable, except for one unintended consequence: Iran’s response in the region has demonstrated that the Pentagon’s traditional weaponry is not ready to fight the war of the future. Instead of the heavy systems used by the U.S. military since World War II—missiles and ships that are expensive to design, build, and operate—this war is powered by swarms of mass-produced and oft-autonomous drones that can do the job cheaper and faster. This is the U.S.’s first war of the future. It will mandate new strategy and technology. Fortunately for the U.S., there is somewhere to turn for that strategy and technology. In February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine, the Ukrainians quickly found themselves in need of a playbook for modern warfare. That playbook has been honed over the past four years—and Ukraine is now willing to share it. Initially,