NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The Pentagon is seeking roughly $55 billion for drone and autonomous warfare programs in its fiscal year 2027 budget, as battlefield conflicts from the Middle East to Ukraine expose a growing problem: cheap drones are increasingly able to overwhelm costly U.S. defenses. The funding request, a dramatic surge from roughly $225 million a year earlier, signals a major shift in how the U.S. military plans to fight future wars, accelerating a move toward large numbers of lower-cost, AI-enabled systems. The funding, tied to a little-known Pentagon office known as the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, represents a broad category spanning multiple programs across the services — including procurement, research, training and sustainment — rather than a single standalone weapons system.…