Hegseth says Pentagon sent personnel to Ukraine to study drone warfare
The Facts
- Pete Hegseth said during Senate committee hearings that the Pentagon has sent US personnel to Ukraine to study drone warfare in real combat conditions.
- Hegseth said he personally approved sending additional personnel to Ukraine for that purpose.
- The stated purpose of the trips is to learn lessons from Ukraine's use of drones in both offensive and defensive operations and incorporate those lessons into US military practice.
- Hegseth made the comments after Senator Mitch McConnell asked whether he supports Pentagon officials traveling to Ukraine to gain battlefield experience.
- Hegseth also said many senior US officials have already traveled to Ukraine and that the United States has learned a great deal from those visits.
- The reports indicate the US sees Ukraine's battlefield experience as relevant to broader Pentagon efforts to adapt to an era in which drones play a central role in warfare.
- The available reports do not specify the number of US personnel sent, their exact locations in Ukraine, or the detailed terms of their deployment.
How left and right are reading this
- Both agree
- Ukraine’s battlefield use of drones is being treated as a live laboratory for the Pentagon, with real combat experience seen by both framings as essential to updating US military practice for a drone-centered era.
- They split on
- Less a disagreement than a question of emphasis: the urgency of public institutions adapting in real time to drone warfare, versus the strategic value of learning from combat performance while unanswered deployment details remain.
Context
What did Hegseth say the US personnel are doing in Ukraine?
He said they were sent to study the drone battlefield in both offensive and defensive operations so the US military can absorb lessons from the war and integrate them into its own defense and combat planning in real time Deutsche Welle,Європейська…,TASS.
In what setting was this disclosed?
Hegseth disclosed it during a Senate committee hearing, after Senator Mitch McConnell asked whether Pentagon officials should travel to Ukraine to learn from the war there Українська …,Європейська…,УКРІНФОРМ.
What remains unclear from the reports?
The reports do not say how many US personnel were sent, exactly where they are operating in Ukraine, or what formal arrangements govern their presence Українська …,Deutsche Welle,TASS.
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