Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has tapped Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich to co-direct a panel on future combat technologies so America stays ahead of its rivals.
At Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Wednesday, Hegseth used his State of the Force address to unveil Project Meridian and five other major initiatives aimed at modernizing the joint force.
The panel will identify technologies expected to dominate the battlefield and produce an unclassified report with a classified annex. Its first meeting already happened that same day in a nearby sensitive compartmented information facility.
Hegseth told the assembled military personnel the effort is deliberately forward-looking. He argued the Pentagon benefits from outside expertise rather than relying only on its own forecasts.
Reporting detailed that Musk, Luckey and Gingrich will share co-director duties. Musk’s SpaceX and Luckey’s Anduril already hold Pentagon contracts, giving the group direct experience with rapid tech development.
Private-sector speed meets Pentagon needs
Hegseth framed the choice as simple humility. Senior military leaders constantly assess future conflict, he said, yet the best predictions do not live only inside the building.
He put the purpose in plain terms.
Hegseth stated:
"As we scan that horizon of an unknown future, we should have the humility to recognize that the best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon."
He continued:
"Its purpose is to creatively look to the future and identify the domains that we must conquer and capabilities we must master."
That same speech launched the Autonomous Warfare Command. The new command will oversee rapid scaling of autonomous systems across the entire joint force.
Hegseth noted the military should have stood up something like it a decade earlier. He called the whole package futuristic on purpose and tied it to keeping pace with competitors.
These moves arrive after months of high-level Army leadership turnover inside the department.
Six initiatives signal a broader push
Project Meridian and the Autonomous Warfare Command sat among six major efforts Hegseth rolled out to the troops at Quantico. The address carried a Washington dateline and focused on practical steps rather than slogans.
Gingrich brings decades of legislative and strategic experience as former House Speaker. Musk and Luckey supply the engineering and production muscle already proven in space launch and defense systems. Together they give the panel a mix of political realism and commercial speed the bureaucracy often lacks.
Hegseth has also moved against internal resistance in other corners of the building, including recent officer promotion blocks that reshaped senior ranks.
The unclassified report plus classified annex will give both the public and decision-makers a clear look at what technologies the trio believes will matter most. No full membership list or hard deadline beyond the initial meeting has been released.
Media draws Hegseth’s sharpest fire
While outlining the tech agenda, Hegseth spent significant time calling out press coverage of the military. He accused outlets of partisan activism that damages troops and the missions they carry out.
Hegseth said:
"Our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable."
He branded much of the coverage anti-American and went further.
Hegseth declared:
"Our media is shameful. Lust for political retribution blinds them to the consequences of reckless so-called reporting. So-called journalists juiced up on Trump Derangement Syndrome."
He drew a line between legitimate scrutiny and what he called smears.
Hegseth added:
"A free press is, of course, important, but partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops and the historic mission that they’re undertaking is fundamentally anti-American."
He closed the critique by calling the pattern sick, a national betrayal, and treason. The remarks landed in front of the same audience that heard the Project Meridian and Autonomous Warfare Command announcements.
Critics in both parties have questioned Hegseth’s approach before, yet the White House has pushed back against talk of an early exit, including one operative’s Thanksgiving prediction.
Outside talent fills a long-standing gap
Hegseth’s core argument remains straightforward: the United States cannot afford to let future domains slip while rivals move faster. Bringing in proven private builders and a seasoned strategist is meant to close that gap.
The first SCIF session on Wednesday already put the three co-directors to work. Their report will spell out which technologies and capabilities the force must master next.
Bipartisan voices have raised separate concerns about overall Pentagon direction after earlier resignations, yet Hegseth continues rolling out concrete commands and panels rather than waiting on consensus.
Those earlier friction points included the prolonged struggle that led to plans for the Army secretary’s departure by year’s end.
Project Meridian now sits as the clearest signal that commercial innovators will help set the military’s technology agenda. The Autonomous Warfare Command gives the joint force a dedicated structure to field the results at speed.
America’s edge has always come from pairing free-enterprise ingenuity with clear national purpose, Hegseth just put that formula back to work where it counts most.
