I said 20 years ago that the next significant war would be decided by whose engineers innovated drones the most quickly, and who could mass produce them the most quickly.<p>If what I hear about Ph.D.s sharing foxholes in Ukraine is right, then I was correct.<p>I expect a merger of engineers, drone hobbyists, military people, and AI assistants will give the victory to one side or the other.<p>I wish the US cared about winning the next big war. If they cared, they would disband the ATF and actively encourage armed drone competitions. There is precident. The Division of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM) runs / ran the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) for many years, handing out surplus military rifles to US civilians for the purpose of having recruits ready in the event of a big war.