Inside the US military’s quest for ‘drone dominance’

INDIANAPOLIS (NewsNation) — Just outside of Indianapolis, the U.S. military is loudly building its arsenal.

NewsNation traveled to the Muscatatuck Training Center with the U.S. Army and Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael for an inside look at the Department of Defense's largest and most realistic training center for the military and law enforcement.

The training area consists of a sunken city, a hospital and crumbling buildings in order to create what the Army calls the “Disneyland of the warfighter.”

And these days, it’s all about drones.

“Usually, you deliver a big weapons system to your troop, they read the manuals, they understand how to use them. Now, we're going to rely on the warfighters to be part of the innovation loop,” said Michael.

Michael says the military is trying new things when it comes to innovation.

“It has to be modular, or it has to be able to change both software and hardware consistently,” he said.

To do so, the Defense Department is turning to some of the biggest and brightest private companies and innovators from the U.S.

Innovators come to Camp Atterbury in Indiana twice a year to put their technology to the test and potentially earn contracts with the U.S. military.

“Now, we’re up to 7 to 8 people, and we’re continuing to grow, so maybe with this recent order we may have to scale a little bit faster,” said Uzi Ibrahim, vice president of strategic operations at Sentien Robotics.

Practice makes perfect in America's heartland to stay at the top of the game on the global stage.

“You know, when I was in Silicon Valley, there was some hesitance to cooperate with the U.S. military. That is gone,” said Michael. “Those days are over. We're trying to open that door wide. So they come in, and we're giving them real-time feedback and giving them quicker 'Yes's and quicker 'No's. So they go back to their drawing board. If it's not working, it can work better next time.”