The U.S. Army is keeping a close eye on the battlefields of Ukraine and learning what many officers consider the war’s biggest lesson: how drones are changing the way American soldiers will fight.

So far, the military has been slow to acknowledge – and mobilize for – this revolution, top commanders say. Part of the delay is a result of the head-spinning pace at which drone technology has advanced, moving over the last a decade from basic aerial devices to complex machines with AI-powered navigation, long flight times, and advanced cameras.

“We’re behind – I’ll just be candid. I think we know we’re behind,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, who leads U.S. forces deployed to Europe’s eastern flank, told an audience at an Army convention last month. “We aren’t moving fast enough.”

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