Can cutting drone money be a good idea? And is the Navy taking the lead in drones?

Cutting drone spending doesn't strike me as wise. It does strike me
as being additional evidence of the Pentagon's being locked in the present
("readiness") instead of thinking about tomorrow ("preparedness").

The only possible
argument I could see is that we have invested enough in current generation
technologies, and should hold back on acquiring more while the field develops.
That would be more plausible if acquisition of the old manned systems also were
being stopped.

As I understand it,
drone R&D will start to decline while acquisition increases. One can only
hope that means snazzy new super-fast long-range stealthy
drones are being purchased,
as well as other innovative types. As an article by Matthew Hipple in the February issue of Proceedings puts it, "Short-term drone development
should concentrate on areas where autonomy is easiest and expendable platforms
are most useful, giving drones a space for more successful and immediate
growth."

In another article
in the same issue, retired Navy Capt. Edward Lundquist makes a good argument
that the next big surge in jointness should be in ensuring that our drones in
the air, on land, and under water can communicate with each other. He quotes
Eric Pouliquen of the "future solutions" branch at NATO's transformation office
in Norfolk, Virginia as saying that, "It would not make sense that we develop a
set of standards for something that swims that is completely different from a
vehicle that is on land, for example."

I get the sense that
the regular Navy is getting back into the game, after a couple of decades of taking a back
seat to the Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operators.

(One qualm: Why
isn't NATO's transformation office in Silicon Valley? I mean, my Quaker
ancestors landed not far from Norfolk, but they had the sense to head West, and southeast Virginia today is
one of the most backward-looking parts of the country, and indeed is thousands
of miles from the nation's major technology centers.)