Budget · Drones
Pentagon’s Task Force Easy targets faster attack-drone improvements, DefenseScoop reports
The new task force’s remit includes training, standards development and helping combat training centers evaluate equipment, its commander said, according to DefenseScoop.
The Department of War has established Task Force Easy to accelerate improvements in weaponized drones and small uncrewed ground vehicles across the U.S. military, DefenseScoop reported. Its commander, Army Col. Michael Penn, said the initial focus is first-person viewer and one-way attack drones.1
Task Force Easy has also been tasked to stand up a drone team
training and combat evaluations for the new equipment
focused on training, defining the latest tactics, training and procedures and standards development
assisting combat training centers’ training and combat evaluations for the new equipment
Reported by DefenseScoop, October 14, 2026. As of October 14, 2026.
Sources
The remit extends to how troops train with and evaluate equipment: Penn said the task force has been tasked to establish a drone team, according to DefenseScoop. Its responsibilities would include training, tactics, procedures and standards development, along with helping combat training centers conduct training and combat evaluations of new equipment.1
Penn outlined the task force’s work at the Association of the U.S. Army conference on Oct. 13, DefenseScoop reported. The outlet also reported that Task Force Easy leads the department’s pacesetter work on the Chief Digital and AI Office’s Project Swarm Forge, which aims to deliver collaborative autonomy at the edge.1
Penn described the goal as an “institutional and industrial engine” that learns, updates and builds better capabilities faster than in the past, DefenseScoop reported. The task force’s assigned role in standards and combat evaluations gives it responsibilities in how new equipment is used and assessed, alongside its remit to improve the technology.1
Sources (1)
- DefenseScoop: U.S. military debuts new Task Force Easy to enable drone tech ‘adaptation dominance’ (Oct. 14, 2026) defensescoop.com