Metallica Files Copyright Complaint Against the Pentagon

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.’ 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 aide 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.

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.