Hegseth Advances $55 Billion Autonomous Warfare Command Plan

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has detailed plans for a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command. He advocated for a nearly $55 billion investment in autonomous weapons during a panel at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. Hegseth discussed the command, known as AUTOWARCOM, with service secretaries and the Pentagon's top civilian for special operations. He stated it would handle procurement, training, and doctrine for unmanned systems across the joint force.

Hegseth and other service civilian leaders avoided many specifics about development and investment. The secretary framed the massive funding request as essential. He called it a one-time generational investment reflecting the president’s priorities. Hegseth reiterated that the full $55 billion is necessary to drive change inside the department. Investments now will ripple for years, he argued. Congress has not yet approved the funding. It remains unclear how much of the request will be granted.

The command is envisioned as a future warfare leader. "You have autonomy. You have robotics. You have SI [super intelligence]. You have space," Hegseth said. He added that AUTOWARCOM should have been established a decade ago. 'We should have done it 10 years earlier, but at least we did it,' he stated.

Pentagon Restructures Autonomy Programs Under SOCOM

The Pentagon is reorganizing its autonomous weapons initiatives under Special Operations Command. This shift aims to accelerate innovation in unmanned systems. Derrick Anderson, assistant defense secretary for Special Operations, confirmed the changes. He said the Defense Autonomous Working Group (DAWG) is being folded into SOCOM's new Task Force Autonomous Warfare.

DAWG was established as a follow-on to the Biden-era Replicator initiative. That initiative aimed to dramatically increase production of drones and counter-drone technology. In 2025, DAWG was placed under SOCOM to focus on different capability portfolios. Anderson explained the logic behind the latest absorption. "We’re smaller. We’re able to iterate at the speed of relevancy," he said. The goal is to keep iterating in the autonomy space and avoid a stagnant pause. The new task force supports Project Agincourt and will eventually support AUTOWARCOM.

Further management changes are underway. The Pentagon shifted the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for autonomy into Project Agincourt. Owen West now leads that project and moderated the AUSA panel. Anderson also revealed that theater innovation labs are being launched outside the United States. These labs, run with U.S. Special Operations Command, will allow operators to iterate on autonomous systems abroad.

Congressional Approval Remains Key Hurdle

While the Pentagon moves forward with planning, the command's final establishment depends on Congress. Lawmakers must sign off on the AUTOWARCOM plan, and approval could take time. Congress has not yet approved a fiscal 2027 defense spending bill. It has also not moved ahead with the administration’s separate reconciliation request. This creates uncertainty around the proposed $55 billion investment and the command's activation timeline.

Hegseth emphasized that those who acquire defense platforms need to be with the warfighter to iterate and innovate. AUTOWARCOM is scheduled to activate by October 1, 2027, if approved. Each military service will stand up a component command nested under the new four-star command.

Service Branches Outline Autonomy Plans

The Army has taken the most concrete step toward the new structure. It has renamed its Futures and Concepts Command to the Futures and Autonomy Command. Lieutenant General Mac McCurry heads this command, which will serve as the Army's component under AUTOWARCOM. The Army also announced the Permissive Test Range Expansion effort in August. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle said the service was previously micromanaging test range use. The new effort includes a website promising a response within four weeks to companies applying to use ranges for drone and counter-drone solutions.

Other services have been less specific. The Navy did not immediately detail its plans for an autonomy command. The Air Force referred questions about its component command to Hegseth's office. Still, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said his service is experimenting with autonomous fighter aircraft at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.

Across the department, officials are grappling with the role of human judgment in autonomous systems. Army Chief Technology Officer Alex Miller said the Army wants appropriate levels of human oversight. He described a vision where humans act as crew chiefs for superintelligence in high-speed scenarios like counter-battery fire. Currently, artificial intelligence is used for collecting intelligence, identifying battlefield targets, and data management. Last year, AI company Anthropic, then a Defense Department vendor, protested the potential use of its models in lethal autonomous weapons.

AUTOWARCOM is scheduled to activate by October 1, 2027, with each service standing up a component command nested under it.