Pete Hegseth suffers another embarrassment over ‘disastrous’ drone video mishap
professorkamrankhan@gmail.com 
A promotional video showing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth touting U.S. drone capabilities was deleted and reposted after a major rock band complained about the Pentagon using their music.
The clip showed Hegseth, 45, standing in front of the Pentagon as military operators piloted drones that whirred by.
The video posted to the defense secretary’s account, captioned ‘Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance,’ originally had Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ blaring as background music.
However, Hegseth and the Pentagon embarrassingly had to scrub the music from the promotional video after copyright issues were brought to their attention.
‘This afternoon, representatives from X reached out to DoD regarding a video posted to our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica,’ the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday.
‘The video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page.’
A representative for the band later confirmed to Rolling Stone that the song was used without authorization.
Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger ripped Hegseth for the post: ‘I still can’t believe you approved this video.’
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stands in front of drones and operators for a video posted last week touting U.S. military investment into autonomous weapons
The video originally featured ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica, but the Pentagon later deleted the video and reposted it without the music after X flagged the clip for copyright issues
The latest mishap comes on the heels of the Daily Mail learning that some lawmakers in Congress are eagerly awaiting the former Fox News host-turned-Pentagon chief’s downfall.
Their concerns over the Pentagon secretary came after he reportedly paused aid to Ukraine earlier this month – a move that caught President Trump by surprise.
‘There are a lot of people who are sharpening knives,’ a Republican senator warned.
‘There are a lot of people who would be delighted to see him go,’ they added. ‘A lot of people.’
The since-deleted-and-reposted video also showed a drone delivering a paper memo to Hegseth. Specifically, the memo fast-tracks the military’s production and use of drones.
‘The Department’s bureaucratic gloves are coming off,’ Hegseth wrote in one of the memos.
‘Lethality will not be hindered by self-imposed restrictions… Our major risk is risk-avoidance.’
Hegseth acknowledged that America’s adversaries – namely Russia and China – have a ‘head start’ on the use of unmanned aircraft systems.
Metallica, shown above performing in 2022
A soldier of a LUAS (Lethal Unmanned Aircraft System) platoon of the U.S. Army 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, carries a Anduril Ghost-X helicopter surveillance drone during the Combined Resolve 25-1 military exercises at the Hohenfels Training Area in Bavaria on February 3, 2025 near Hohenfels, Germany
Drones have been an increasingly important piece of military hardware in recent years, evidenced by the Ukraine-Russia war as well as recent attacks involving Israel and Iran.
Cheap drones available to civilians have been used as surveillance tools and weapon-dropping vehicles in Ukraine.
Iran, meanwhile, has been producing drones for its skirmishes against Israel.
Often, the cheap, autonomous vehicles have to be shot down by expensive munitions, posing an asymmetric challenge for U.S. forces.
The Pentagon’s new memos will look to lower per-unit costs of American-made drones that can be used to cheaply and effectively disable incoming drones and autonomous weapons.
