Owen West
Pentagon Launches Autonomous Warfare Command For Drones
Defense Secretary (Secretary of War) Pete Hegseth announced a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command, nicknamed AutoWarCom, to speed the military’s acquisition of drones and artificial intelligence.The command is meant to fix the thing everyone agrees is broken: the Pentagon buys autonomy far too slowly to keep pace with the fight.
The next war will be fought partly by machines, and the side that fields them fastest (and cheapest) wins. A dedicated command with its own authorities is Washington’s bet that the problem isn’t money or ideas, but a procurement system that cannot move at the speed of the technology.
The command is new and four-star. Hegseth said AutoWarCom will have “service-like authorities” to buy and field autonomous systems, with a four-star commander still to be named.
It stands up for over a year. An interim effort called Project Agincourt will run for roughly a year, with the formal command targeted for around October 2027.
The run-up has two leaders. Agincourt is led by Defense Innovation Unit director Owen West on strategy and resources, paired with Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser on operational problem-solving. Senior Chief Strasiser is specifically responsible for operational problem-solving and integrating drone technology into the practical realities of frontline combat
China can turn out drones by the millions a year while American output is measured in the tens of thousands, and a single Chinese firm, DJI, holds roughly 70 percent of the world commercial drone market. The money fight, as above, is a Republican-on-Republican argument about whether to fund autonomy honestly in the base budget or through reconciliation, and the honest path is the one conservatives should back.
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The next war will be fought partly by machines, and the side that fields them fastest (and cheapest) wins. A dedicated command with its own authorities is Washington’s bet that the problem isn’t money or ideas, but a procurement system that cannot move at the speed of the technology.
The command is new and four-star. Hegseth said AutoWarCom will have “service-like authorities” to buy and field autonomous systems, with a four-star commander still to be named.
It stands up for over a year. An interim effort called Project Agincourt will run for roughly a year, with the formal command targeted for around October 2027.
The run-up has two leaders. Agincourt is led by Defense Innovation Unit director Owen West on strategy and resources, paired with Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser on operational problem-solving. Senior Chief Strasiser is specifically responsible for operational problem-solving and integrating drone technology into the practical realities of frontline combat
China can turn out drones by the millions a year while American output is measured in the tens of thousands, and a single Chinese firm, DJI, holds roughly 70 percent of the world commercial drone market. The money fight, as above, is a Republican-on-Republican argument about whether to fund autonomy honestly in the base budget or through reconciliation, and the honest path is the one conservatives should back.
Read more...
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