Hegseth launches Project Meridian with Musk, Luckey and Gingrich to plan future war
In his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth commissioned Project Meridian, a 120-day study led by Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich, with department technology chief Emil Michael facilitating. It is to identify the domains and capabilities the US military will need for wars out to 2030, 2050 and 2100, with findings due around 28 January 2027 as a classified report and a public rollout.
Why it matters
SpaceX's chief executive and Anduril's founder, both leaders of major defence contractors, will help set the Pentagon's long-range technology priorities, likely tilting them further toward AI, autonomy and space.
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Connections our researchers recorded
- DevelopmentPentagon plans four-star Autonomous Warfare Command by October 202730 Sep 2026 · Programme · USSame programme: Announced together in the State of the Force address
- DevelopmentHegseth orders an 'AI-first' military and 'any lawful use' terms for AI contracts12 Jan 2026 · Policy · USFollows from: Extends the AI-first agenda to long-range force planning
What led here
Earlier developments on the same thread
- DevelopmentAppeals court upholds Pentagon's supply-chain-risk label on Anthropic25 Sep 2026 · Enforcement or ruling · US
- DevelopmentPresidential memo orders rapid rewrite of Pentagon autonomous-weapons rules5 Jun 2026 · Policy · US
- DevelopmentOpenAI agrees to deploy its models on Department of War classified networks28 Feb 2026 · Deal · US
- DevelopmentPentagon labels Anthropic a supply-chain risk after it refuses to drop two limits27 Feb 2026 · Enforcement or ruling · US
Same story elsewhere
What other countries and bodies did on this
- DevelopmentNATO buys Palantir's Maven Smart System for its operational headquarters14 Apr 2025 · Procurement · INTL
- DevelopmentUK Strategic Defence Review bets on AI, autonomy and a 'digital targeting web'2 Jun 2025 · Policy · GB
- DevelopmentEU White Paper on defence lists AI and drones among priority capability gaps19 Mar 2025 · Policy · EU
Rules in play
Laws and guidance this touches
- RuleEO 14409 (covered frontier models)US · In force · 2 Jun 2026
- RuleEO 14179US · In force · 23 Jan 2025
- RuleBIS H200 case-by-case ruleUS · In force · 15 Jan 2026
- RuleEU AI ActEU · Partly in force · 13 Jun 2024
Threads by topic: Military AI Autonomous weapons National security Space