A Metallica representative confirmed that the use of “Enter Sandman” in the original video with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was unauthorized.

In a major policy shift, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has launched a new initiative to “unleash” U.S. drone capabilities, aiming to equip every Army squad with small, one-way attack drones by 2026.

The memo directs the military services to create active duty formations by September, built for the sole purpose of scaling the use of drones across DOD.

U.S. drone stocks are flying high after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he’s fully committed to “unleashing American drone dominance.” Hegseth confirmed plans of “rescinding restrictive policies” to boost manufacturing and accelerate the use of unmanned systems for military purposes in a video recorded at the Pentagon on Friday.

Pentagon removes barriers for military drone deployment, redefining small unmanned aircraft as consumables while mandating drone combat simulations across military branches

Under Hegseth's memo, DOD will approve hundreds of American products for purchase by the U.S. military to bolster the drone manufacturing base.

Watch Pete Hegseth in an awkward drone video as he issues a new directive aimed at increasing the US’ arsenal of unmanned aerial systems, all while Metallica plays in the background. In a video posted to X on Thursday (10 July),

An announcement so weird it could only come from the Trump administration video Flanked by a pair of buzzing drones that threatened to drown out his voice, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reached up to grab a memorandum hung from a third drone hovering above his head.

It’s pretty well-known at this point that the use of social media by Donald Trump’s administration is rather unconventional – from a “childish” post about El Salvador deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to just this week tweeting an image of Trump as Superman as James Gunn’s movie entered cinemas.

Donald Trump outright called his Pentagon chief the “Secretary of War” Friday while also seemingly believing Pete Hegseth actually appeared on Fox News to talk “about modern weapons and warfare” after the network aired a clip of the defense secretary’s announcement on the administration’s new drone strategy.

The defense secretary said he planned to boost production of drones, and supply combat units with more of them.