Elon Musk back in Trump admin, will help Pentagon map 'future of warfare, autonomous weapons'
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Tesla boss Elon Musk is back in the White House Photograph: (X)
Elon Musk will co-lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon initiative examining future warfare and the technologies the US military will need. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command to rapidly expand robotic and autonomous capabilities.
Tesla boss Elon Musk will be back in the White House as War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that he will co-lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon initiative tasked with looking at the future of warfare in the US. Essentially, it means he will look into years ahead to identify emerging domains of warfare and the capabilities the US military will need to dominate them. This assessment will help the Pentagon to determine which weapons and technology American troops will need to fight the wars of the future. Hegseth also announced the establishment of the Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), a brand-new four-star combatant command endowed with "service-like authorities" designed to rapidly scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint forces. The department will also introduce dedicated occupational frameworks to build career tracks for a new generation of "autonomous warfighters."
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Who are the part of this team?
Musk, the former leader of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will lead the effort alongside defense tech billionaire Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich under the direction of War Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael. According to Fox News, the high-level advisory panel will be co-led by Elon Musk alongside defence-tech czar Palmer Luckey and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The project will operate under the supervision of the department's Chief Technology Officer, Emil Michael. According to Hegseth, both Musk and Luckey bring firsthand experience developing technology for the US military. Musk’s SpaceX serves as a major Pentagon contractor, while Luckey’s Anduril Industries specialises in autonomous weapons and other advanced military systems.
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Objectives for Project Meridian
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Highlighting the objective of the mission, Hegseth described Project Meridian as “an effort led by America's best minds to study the future of warfare." It is part of an overarching push by Hegseth to reorient the American military around autonomous warfare and rapidly emerging technology. "The best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon. There are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them," he said. Project Meridian has been given a strict 120-day deadline to "ruthlessly map the trajectory of wars, domains and technologies." The assessment will culminate in a public presentation of its broad findings alongside a classified annex for military leadership. Hegseth outlined an expansive mandate stretching "from under the Earth to beyond the moon."
