Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a 'State of the Force' address at Quantico to announce the Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), a new four-star combatant command to scale drones and robotics, contingent on congressional approval and targeted for October 2027. He also launched Project Agincourt on warfighting acquisition and Project Meridian, a future-of-warfare effort co-led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich — none of whom have ever served in the US military — and separately announced plans to fire 20% of the military's generals and admirals. Critics note that Musk's and Luckey's companies already sell the kinds of technology the study is likely to recommend, raising conflict-of-interest concerns. A memo obtained by Axios now shows the Army itself is creating an autonomous systems command with a dedicated acquisition executive to prioritize buying robotic systems — echoing and possibly overlapping with AUTOWARCOM's remit. The announcement comes amid growing Republican doubts about Hegseth's leadership — his relationship with GOP lawmakers has never been worse — even as he extols the overhaul of the armed forces as no longer 'weak', and criticism that he accused media of treason for Iran war reporting.
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