At Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on 30 September 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used his State of the Force address to unveil a new military command for autonomous warfare. The Autonomous Warfare Command, or AutoWarCom, will bring the development of drones and defence robotics under a four-star combatant command.
Hegseth presented the move as a response to a military acquisition system that, he argues, has failed to match the pace of technological change on the battlefield. “The pace of war is changing faster than the process to support it,” he said.
AutoWarCom is intended to be operational by 1 October next year. It will have directed manpower, budget and acquisition authorities, alongside dedicated career pathways for Officers and Enlisted personnel.
Hegseth said the command would have “service-like authorities built to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force in the fastest peacetime shift in modern military history.” Its task will be to advance operational autonomous and robotic capabilities across the services.
The announcement follows an earlier consolidation. Three months beforehand, Hegseth placed the Defense Department’s unmanned and autonomous systems under a new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems, known as DRPM-UxS, which reports directly to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steven Feinberg.
Owen West, a former Marine who directs the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser will lead Project Agincourt, the interim effort preparing AutoWarCom’s launch. Hegseth described them as a “CEO, COO partnership” for the next year, with West as the CEO and Strasiser as the COO.
Through Project Agincourt, the Pentagon will trial what Hegseth calls “warfighting acquisition”, putting military operators, engineers and private companies into rapid development cycles. “This model fuses operators with entrepreneurs in rapid adaptation cycles while distributing decisions and dollars closer to frontline units to combatant commands,” Hegseth said.
The new command will also test equipment and force designs with “realistic opposition” in exercises and rugged environments. A four-star military leader, whose identity has yet to be announced, will take command when AutoWarCom begins operating.
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