kyiv – In his first public appearance since leaving the Trump administration, former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll warned of “a tipping point in warfare,” arguing that the world’s largest militaries “have not embraced the speed and innovation they need.” Wearing a tie embroidered with a traditional Ukrainian pattern, Driscoll spoke alongside Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO who now runs Perennial Autonomy, a U.S. defense company active in Ukraine. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria moderated the discussion on the second day of the Yalta European Strategy Forum, an annual conference organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation to discuss Ukraine’s future in the West’s security architecture. Driscoll and Schmidt praised kyiv’s wartime innovations, particularly “DELTA,” a Ukrainian software platform that allows military leaders to see a more complete picture of the battlefield by linking data from radars, sensors and soldiers. The platform, Driscoll said, surpasses any technology the US military currently possesses. Driscoll said that as Ukraine gains more processing power and expands its artificial intelligence capabilities, it will have “an incredible opportunity for its nation to outrun the Russians, out-innovate them, and partner up to crush them.” Former Secretary of the Army Dan Discroll made his first public comments since leaving the administration at the Yalta European Strategy conference in kyiv on Saturday, September 12, 2026. Yalta European Strategy Forum/Victor Pinchuk Foundation Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran and former venture capitalist, is a long-time friend of Vice President JD Vance, whom he met at Yale Law School. As Secretary of the Army, he also participated in the administration’s efforts to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. His resignation was announced Aug. 31 amid clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the dismissal of senior officers and Army modernization efforts. The White House gave no reason for his departure. During his 18 months as Secretary of the Army, Driscoll pressed the U.S. military to apply the lessons of the war in Ukraine. In January, the Army began implementing procurement reforms aimed at getting new weapons into soldiers’ hands more quickly. The war with Iran has highlighted this urgency. When Driscoll realized that the United States lacked the defenses it needed against Iranian Shahed drones, help came not from America’s largest defense contractors, but from Schmidt’s Perennial Autonomy. The company quickly supplied 13,000 “Merops” interceptor drones and 10,000 “Bumblebee” reconnaissance and attack drones, both widely used in Ukraine. “He literally called me and I said of course yes,” Schmidt said. “The question is: could the government have had a multi-year plan to anticipate this?” Driscoll said part of the key to answering those questions will be to “internalize these lessons of what you’re doing here.” [in Ukraine] in a very rudimentary, fast and iterative nature. to move away from the people and processes dedicated to learning lessons from the war in Ukraine In August, the U.S. Army phased out a drone battalion tasked with studying lessons about Ukraine’s drone war, former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and former U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Christopher Donahue were fired or forced to retire earlier this year. Driscoll did not defend those departures. acknowledging that its support had not met kyiv’s expectations. “I think the relationship that the United States has had with your country throughout all of this has remained, maybe not as strong as you wanted, but from where I stand, it has been unwavering in wanting you to succeed,” he said. But Driscoll had decided that his own contribution would be a greater external contribution to the government. “My biggest and best use of making the world a little safer in this very scary time was to do it outside,” Go said. more in-depth with The Free Press at:
