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Hegseth reveals plans to counter China, stay ahead in arms race as Pentagon pivots to Indo-Pacific
By Ashley Carnahan
Published May 19, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is working to stay ahead in modern warfare amid drone and artificial intelligence advancements on the battlefield.
Hegseth, a former "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host, sat down with "The Will Cain Show" Monday at the Pentagon, where he laid out the Trump administration’s posture toward China amid an arms race with the communist country and adversaries like Russia and Iran.
"We concede nothing to the communist Chinese. We're creating dilemmas for them at every level," he said.
Flags of the U.S. and China sit in a room where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with China's Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, April 26, 2024, in Beijing, China. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS/File photo)
The Pentagon boss added that the White House is invested in the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine but is shifting its attention to countering China in the Indo-Pacific, a move reflected in Hegseth’s first overseas trip to Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and Japan.
China has made significant advancements in drone production, with reports that the country is preparing to launch a new drone-carrying mothership capable of releasing up to 100 smaller drones at a time.
Chinese technology company DJI touts itself as the world's leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial drones and has a hefty presence in U.S. and Asian markets.
Craig Singleton, a senior China fellow at the non-partisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the Shenzhen-based company dominates the global drone market, controlling more than 70% of the worldwide market share.
"That’s alarming, because DJI drones are essentially data collectors for Beijing — giving China potential access to sensitive infrastructure imagery, flight patterns, and more. It’s not just a market-share problem — it’s a national security threat," he said.
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Hegseth told Fox News host Will Cain that the Pentagon understands the motives and capabilities of the Chinese government and wants to build up a U.S. military that’s capable of deterring any future conflict between the two nations.
DJI drones on display. ((Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images))
"We don't want that conflict. You showed how big they are," he said, referring to a graphic that compares and contrasts the United States’ active personnel, warships and nuclear weapons to China’s.
"President Trump has a great relationship with Xi Jinping — we think that's a good thing. And we stared them down on trade — we think that's a good thing. Rebalancing that dynamic is important. We're the ones in the background trying to say we would always prefer to resolve this peacefully. But we're gonna do that by being as strong as possible to meet their threat at every turn."
The United States Marine Corps established an attack drone team earlier this year to respond to the rapid development of armed first-person view (FPV) drone technology and tactics, offering a glimpse into the evolving landscape of modern warfare and how future battles could be fought.
A Marine pilots a first-person view drone during a demonstration range at WTBn on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, March 7, 2025. ((DVIDS / U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Barker))
The Marine Corps Attack Drone Team will be based at the Weapons Training Battalion, Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.
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The FPV drones used will offer squad-level lethality at a range of up to 20 kilometers, nearly 12.5 miles, for under $5,000, compared to more expensive weapons systems with less capability, according to a press release from the service.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/hegseth-reveals-plans-counter-china-stay-ahead-arms-race-pentagon-pivots-indo-pacific