WHEN I BEGAN REPORTING on the Canadian military’s halting embrace of drone technology for The Walrus, one conversation impressed me. Lieutenant General Michael Wright spoke with a candour and urgency I don’t usually encounter in covering defence and intelligence. Appointed commander of the Canadian Army in 2024, Lieutenant General Wright has been a central voice on how the country’s military must modernize to remain credible. In our exchange, which occurred in June, he made a powerful case for drones as fundamental to that rebuild. There was a clarity to his proposals that felt too important to bury inside a longer piece: it deserved to appear on its own terms. What follows is that conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length.