The Pentagon is creating a new four-star command to oversee the military’s push into autonomous warfare, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the technology is advancing faster than the military’s acquisition system can keep up.
The Autonomous Warfare Command, or AutoWarCom, will have service-like authorities and is intended to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the military, Hegseth said during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on Wednesday.
Hegseth said the new command is intended to address an acquisition system that cannot keep pace with the speed of technological change on the battlefield.
“The pace of war is changing faster than the process to support it,” Hegseth said.
The announcement comes three months after Hegseth consolidated the Defense Department’s unmanned and autonomous systems under a new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems, or DRPM-UxS. The office reports directly to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steven Feinberg and was established to oversee the development, procurement, fielding and sustainment of unmanned and autonomous systems across the department.
The DRPM-UxS also assumed oversight of existing efforts, including Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the Defense Innovation Unit and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group.
During his Wednesday address, Hegseth also announced Project Agincourt, an interim effort intended to prepare the way for AutoWarCom.
Hegseth named Owen West, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit, and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser to lead the initiative for the next year. He described the two as a “CEO, COO partnership,” with West focused on strategic risks, resources and scale, and Strasiser focused on operational problem-solving and the realities of employing the systems in combat.
Hegseth said a four-star commander will soon be named to lead AutoWarCom, while West and Strasiser will guide Project Agincourt as the department prepares to establish the command.
Agincourt will test what Hegseth called “warfighting acquisition,” bringing military operators, engineers and private companies into rapid development cycles and moving acquisition decisions and funding closer to combatant commands and frontline units.
“This model fuses operators with entrepreneurs in rapid adaptation cycles while distributing decisions and dollars closer to frontline units to combatant commands,” Hegseth said.
Realistic training exercises — and, when possible, combat — will be used to test autonomous systems and determine which technologies should be rapidly expanded, the secretary announced.
The department will also begin phasing in new military occupational specialty frameworks to support the military’s shift toward autonomous warfare, Hegseth said, creating career paths for a new generation of autonomous warfighters.
Hegseth said the Pentagon needs both sophisticated, high-end weapons and large numbers of lower-cost autonomous systems, describing the approach as a “high-low mix.” He compared high-end weapons to lightning and massed drones and other autonomous systems to the wind and rain of a thunderstorm.
“Today, we need both quality and quantity,” Hegseth said.
He went on to liken the establishment of the new command to an act of biblical significance, stating the department was “putting on the full armor of God. Because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual.”
Hegseth pointed to Ukraine as a lesson in the need for systems that can be adapted rapidly as battlefield conditions change. He said the United States must be able to develop, test and modify autonomous systems at a pace that matches the evolution of warfare.
The effort is intended to bring the military’s frontline leaders closer to the engineers and companies developing new technologies, which Hegseth described as the military’s greatest comparative advantage.
Natalie Oliverio is an independent journalist and Navy veteran who covers military and veterans’ issues. Drawing on her experience as a talent executive and mentor, she writes about the policies, people and programs shaping the military community.
