<!DOCTYPE html><html><head></head><body style="margin: 0px; background-color: white;" ><div id='sa-content-div-pSdBShew0A' style="position: relative; width:300px"><div style="position:absolute; top:0; right:0; background:white; opacity:0.7; width:17px; height:15px; text-align:center; z-index: 16777270"><img id='sa-adchoices' src="https://creative.stackadapt.com/icons/adchoices/adchoices.png" width="12" height="12"></div><script>try{var sa_adchoices = document.getElementById('sa-adchoices');if (sa_adchoices){sa_adchoices.onclick = function(){window.open('https://www.stackadapt.com/privacy-policy','_blank');}}}catch(err){console.log(err);}</script><a target="_blank" href="https://clk.srv.stackadapt.com/clk?aid=1-6129-176166577855149650616499-1&cid=2829269&adid=11456693&sid=744f8770-a584-4acc-b16d-98f0dc55b2f7&uid=E17SVeectHOQfMdk544jqg&did=theatlantic.com%3A%3A159&adurl=https%3A%2F%2Feast.srv.stackadapt.com&t=1761665778&brandname=Growth+Energy&adheading=&iidx=0&nid=159&bip=MjE2LjE1LjU3LjM&curl=aHR0cHM6Ly9ncm93dGhlbmVyZ3kub3JnL3BvbGljeS1wcmlvcml0eS9lMTUtYW5kLWhpZ2hlci1ldGhhbm9sLWJsZW5kcy8%2FJnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9c3RhY2thZGFwdCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWFkJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1ncm93dGhfZGNfcGVyc3Vhc2lvbl8xMDQyNDJfc3RhY2thZGFwdF8yMDI1MDkxMC0yMDI1MTExMF9kaXNwbGF5LWNvbnRleHR1YWwtMzBfbmFfMWVteEpf&r=" style="color:black; text-decoration:none"><img src="https://cdn.stackadapt.com/creatives/13969/qrPf9KlxxHFuQh1aqgtl_ADIM300x50.png"/></a><div><script src="https://cdn.doubleverify.com/dvtp_src.js?ctx=34962712&cmp=DV1436327&sid=stackadapt&plc=stackadapt-dispJS&adsrv=0&advid=3891363&autt=1&dvtagver=6.1.src&ppid=347&auevent=1-6129-176166577855149650616499-1_744f8770-a584-4acc-b16d-98f0dc55b2f7&auadv=13969&aucmp=2829269&aucrtv=11456693&auplc=_g37XPtFHPo&auxch=159&pltfrm=8802&aufilter2=IQMBFV&aubndl=sa_blank&turl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fideas%2Farchive%2F2025%2F10%2Fus-lose-war-china-drone-warfare%2F684717%2F%3Fgift%3DBQHDq1p24LRO8cUUEyLQ63MKQkSKWLS-R1f3dWt44rY%26utm_source%3Dcopy-link%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dshare&c1=300&c2=50&gdpr=0&gdpr_consent=" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div></div><div><img src="https://srv.stackadapt.com/cookie?campid=2829269&is_ctv=0&nativeid=11456693&domain=theatlantic.com%3A%3A159&auctionid=1-6129-176166577855149650616499-1&impindex=0&m=MjE2LjE1LjU3LjM&isipgen=0" width="1" height="1"><img src="https://us-east-win.srv.stackadapt.com/win?aid=1-6129-176166577855149650616499-1&sid=744f8770-a584-4acc-b16d-98f0dc55b2f7&wp=1.63&rid=74a78c65-330d-436d-aedb-858088cdbeb3&network=159&t=1761665778&said=1-6129-176166577855149650616499-1&sanid=159" width="1" height="1"></div></div><script src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/stackadapt_public/js/saurl.js" id="sa-url-script" purl="https://east.srv.stackadapt.com" aid="1-6129-176166577855149650616499-1" iid="744f8770-a584-4acc-b16d-98f0dc55b2f7" br_domain="theatlantic.com" br_ip="216.15.57.3" network="kargo" br_page_url="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/us-lose-war-china-drone-warfare/684717/?gift=BQHDq1p24LRO8cUUEyLQ63MKQkSKWLS-R1f3dWt44rY&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share"></script></body></html>