Hegseth taps Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich and Palmer Luckey to help design the future of war

BS BULLETIN:

Pete Hegseth has tapped Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey to help lead a Pentagon study on the future of warfare.
The new “Project Meridian” is expected to identify the weapons and technology America will need for future battlefields — with findings due in 120 days.
Hegseth also announced a new four-star autonomous warfare command and plans to cut the military’s generals and admirals by 20 percent.

Elon Musk. Newt Gingrich. Palmer Luckey.

No, that is not the beginning of an unusually aggressive podcast lineup.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked all three to help the Pentagon figure out what war is going to look like next.

During his “State of the Force” address at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Wednesday, Hegseth announced Project Meridian, a new effort aimed at identifying the technologies and weapons the United States will need to dominate future battlefields.

The project will be overseen by Pentagon technology chief Emil Michael and co-led by Musk, Gingrich and Luckey.

Hegseth said the group will focus on:

“discovering, developing and fielding the weapons and systems that our children and our grandchildren will need in their lifetimes.”

And he is thinking considerably farther ahead than the next rifle or fighter jet.

Hegseth said the United States needs to be prepared to dominate future battlefields ranging from beneath the Earth to “beyond the moon.”

Musk brings SpaceX, rockets, satellites and artificial intelligence.

Luckey founded defense-tech company Anduril, which specializes in autonomous weapons and surveillance systems.

And Gingrich has spent decades writing and speaking about military strategy, technology and long-range national planning.

The group has 120 days to produce its findings, including a public report and a classified annex.

And Project Meridian was only one part of Hegseth’s rather large Pentagon renovation list.

He also announced the creation of a new Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM — a four-star command dedicated to accelerating drones, robotics, artificial intelligence and other autonomous battlefield systems.

Hegseth called it:

“the fastest peacetime shift in modern military history.”

The lesson driving that move is increasingly hard to miss.

Cheap drones have transformed warfare in Ukraine and have played a major role in attacks against American forces during the war with Iran.

Hegseth said the Pentagon needs to become far faster at deploying autonomous systems rather than taking years to move new technology through the military bureaucracy.

Then came the personnel news. Hegseth said he is doubling an earlier reduction in senior military leadership and now wants the number of generals and admirals cut by 20 percent by Jan. 1, 2027.

He called the move:

“accountability and long overdue.”

Some lawmakers have raised concerns that the reductions could hollow out experienced military leadership, while supporters argue the armed forces have become too top-heavy.

Hegseth also announced plans for a new military base — the first in roughly 40 years — and invited states to compete to host between 15,000 and 25,000 service members. He also wants military installations to become less dependent on vulnerable civilian power grids.

So, to summarize the Pentagon’s Wednesday:

Elon Musk is helping plan future warfare.
Newt Gingrich and the Oculus guy is helping.
A new four-star drone command is coming.
One-fifth of the generals and admirals are going.
And somewhere out there, somebody is apparently thinking about warfare beyond the moon.

Just another Wednesday at the Pentagon.