{"id":241636,"date":"2026-04-16T11:15:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/?p=241636"},"modified":"2026-04-17T04:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:26:32","slug":"trump-seeks-1-5-trillion-for-defense-as-the-pentagon-goes-all-in-on-ai-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/traders-insight\/securities\/macro\/trump-seeks-1-5-trillion-for-defense-as-the-pentagon-goes-all-in-on-ai-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense as the Pentagon Goes All In on AI Warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thirty-five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the cost of the Pentagon\u2019s new Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System\u2014LUCAS for short\u2014which made its combat debut this year in the conflict with Iran. Reverse-engineered from Iran\u2019s Shahed drone design, the LUCAS is autonomous, long-range and capable of swarm strikes, all for about the price of a midsize pickup truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put that in perspective, a Tomahawk cruise missile runs about $2.5 million. A Patriot interceptor? Around $4 million per shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regular readers know I\u2019ve long believed that government policy is a precursor to change, and right now, policy, geopolitics and technology are converging in a way I haven\u2019t seen in my entire decades-long career in capital markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s emerging is a new defense-industrial revolution built on artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with the macro picture because the numbers are staggering. President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed 2027 budget calls for\u00a0$1.5 trillion in defense spending,<\/a>\u00a0by far the largest dollar amount in modern American history. That\u2019s includes $1.1 trillion for the Defense Department and another $350 billion earmarked for critical munitions and rebuilding the U.S. defense industrial base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/graph\/graph-landing.php?g=1UCnV&width=100%&height=475<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tucked away in that $1.5 trillion figure is a line item I find especially interesting: $13.4 billion for \u201cautonomy and autonomous systems.\u201d In other words, drones and unmanned vehicles, not to mention the AI data centers that run them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tells me the Pentagon has acknowledged that the nature of warfare has fundamentally changed, and that the side with the smartest, cheapest, most numerous machines will have the upper hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already directed the Army<\/a> to deploy drones in every <\/em>division and to dramatically expand counter-drone capabilities by 2027. Meanwhile, the Air Force\u2019s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program is on track to spend nearly $9 billion<\/a> building AI \u201cwingmen\u201d to fly alongside our F-22s and F-35s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the world\u2019s largest customer commits this kind of capital, I believe smart investors should take note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First True AI War<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many analysts are already calling Operation Epic Fury the first real AI war, and with good reason. In just the opening weeks of fighting, close to 2,000 drone strikes were recorded.<\/a> U.S. Central Command confirmed that \u201chundreds\u201d<\/a> of U.S. attack drones were deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Ukraine\u2019s drone production has exploded from roughly 800,000 units in 2023 to nearly 5 million projected for 2026. In March, for the first time, Ukraine actually launched more cross-border attack drones than Russia did.<\/a> It amazes me that a country that had essentially no domestic drone industry four years ago is now out-producing one of the world\u2019s traditional military superpowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this new AI era, the math has flipped. As one analyst put it, using a Patriot missile to shoot down a $35,000 Shahed costs the U.S. 100 times more than its costs Iran.<\/a> That asymmetry is why every major military on the planet is scrambling to retool around cheap, smart, autonomous weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not just offense. Israel\u2019s new Iron Beam laser system, which saw its first use in combat last month, can knock incoming rockets out of the sky for about $2.50 per shot,<\/a> compared to $50,000 or more for a traditional Iron Dome interceptor. AeroVironment\u2019s Locust X3 laser counter-drone system, unveiled just last month, is reportedly even cheaper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow the Money<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Investor demand for aerospace and defense is surging at the moment, judging by inflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, the entire global defense-tech venture capital sector raised just $869 million. Last year, that figure hit $11.2 billion,<\/a> a more than tenfold increase in five years, according to Dealroom data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Global<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the public markets side, aerospace and defense ETFs pulled in a record $3 billion of net inflows last month alone, the biggest monthly haul ever recorded for the category. I don\u2019t believe this is a one-month blip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aerospace<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Look at what\u2019s happening to the new generation of defense-tech firms. Palantir, the data-and-AI company, now has a market cap north of $300 billion, down from its peak of $475 billion at the end of October 2025. That puts the Miami-based firm ahead of traditional defense giants such as Lockheed Martin and RTX (formerly Raytheon). President Trump posted about Palantir today, writing that the company \u201chas proven to have great war fighting capabilities and equipment.\u201dhttps:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/116380894672815869\/embed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anduril, the autonomous systems startup founded barely a decade ago, just closed a funding round at a $60 billion valuation, doubling for the second year in a row. According to Brennan Center research, Anduril\u2019s revenue has been compounding at a median annual growth of 143% per year, making it the fastest growing major defense contractor.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s SpaceX, which has reportedly filed confidentially for what could be the largest IPO in history, at a valuation potentially pushing $1.75 trillion. That\u2019s thanks in large part to its satellite contracts with the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I\u2019m Watching Next<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The best investment opportunities often arise when three forces are in sync: 1) a powerful policy tailwind, 2) a genuine technological breakthrough and 3) a real-world use case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, in defense tech, all three are flashing green at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I encourage every reader to do their own homework before making any investment decisions, but when the White House is seeking $1.5 trillion, when ETF flows hit record highs, and when the cost of fighting wars is being rewritten by $35,000 drones, I believe investors should take note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally Posted April 13, 2026 – Trump Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense as the Pentagon Goes All In on AI Warfare<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. By clicking the link(s) above, you will be directed to a third-party website(s). U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this\/these website(s) and is not responsible for its\/their content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holdings may change daily. Holdings are reported as of the most recent quarter-end. The following securities mentioned in the article were held by one or more accounts managed by U.S. Global Investors as of (03\/31\/2026): Palantir Technologies Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty-five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the cost of the Pentagon\u2019s new Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System\u2014LUCAS for short\u2014which made its combat debut this year in the conflict with Iran. Reverse-engineered from Iran\u2019s Shahed drone design, the LUCAS is autonomous, long-range and capable of swarm strikes, all for about the price of a midsize pickup truck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":228756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,6,8,9,26,3],"tags":[],"contributors-categories":[13633],"class_list":{"0":"post-241636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-macro","8":"category-north-america","9":"category-region","10":"category-securities","11":"category-text-articles","12":"category-traders-insight","13":"contributors-categories-us-global-investors"},"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense as the Pentagon Goes All In on AI Warfare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thirty-five thousand dollars.That\u2019s the cost of the Pentagon\u2019s new Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System\u2014LUCAS for short\u2014which made its combat...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241636\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense as the Pentagon Goes All In on AI Warfare | IBKR Campus US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thirty-five thousand dollars.That\u2019s the cost of the Pentagon\u2019s new Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System\u2014LUCAS for short\u2014which made its combat debut this year in the conflict with Iran. 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