Pentagon Restructures Military: New Command Created to Expand AI and Drone Capabilities
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced yesterday, Wednesday, the creation of a new military command dedicated to building and providing autonomous and robotic capabilities across the US Army. In a speech titled “State of the Forces,” he unveiled sweeping changes, including a 20% reduction in the number of generals and admirals in the country.
Hegseth stated that the new command would be named the “Autonomous Warfare Command,” describing the move as “the fastest peacetime transformation in modern military history.”
Speaking to hundreds of military personnel in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth revealed that the command would be led by a four-star general.
This change highlights the rapidly evolving nature of warfare and the need to advance systems such as drones and artificial intelligence.
In his address, Hegseth noted that the pace of warfare is changing faster than the processes supporting it, and he also announced other changes, including the establishment of an office for religious affairs.
The Secretary of Defense’s speech is not a standard tradition among Pentagon leaders. Hegseth’s predecessors regularly addressed troops and senior officers, but typically in smaller or private settings.
The US Army currently comprises 11 combatant commands, each responsible for different regions of the world and specific missions.
The United States has traditionally relied on its massive military budget to operate some of the world’s most expensive weapon systems. However, there is growing awareness within the Pentagon that this approach is unsustainable. Hegseth stated, “We need both quality and quantity today.”
The creation of a new command is uncommon; the last such command established was the US Space Force in 2019.
This move reflects the Pentagon’s effort to shift from costly traditional weapon platforms to cheaper, autonomous systems relying on artificial intelligence, which have proven their decisive role in recent conflicts, particularly the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Iran-Israel conflict, where drones demonstrated their military significance.
Hegseth announced that the Pentagon would also launch an initiative to study the future of warfare, co-led by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, and Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives (Republican).
He added that the Pentagon would plan to build a new military base for the first time in 40 years, calling on all 50 states to compete to host between 15,000 and 25,000 military personnel. He also announced a plan to make every military base energy-independent.
Hegseth further stated that he had directed the military branches to double the reduction rate—previously ordered last spring and affecting approximately 800 positions for generals and senior officers—to reach 20%, with the measure to be fully implemented by January 1, 2027.
The Secretary of Defense again focused on radically restructuring the US Army by targeting what he calls the culture of “over-awareness”—or “woke culture”—by eliminating diversity programs, reviewing the status of ground combat units that include female soldiers, implementing a new screening program to detect “low testosterone” in male personnel, and criticizing the media for its coverage of the military.
