Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Project Meridian, a new initiative to study future warfare, during his State of the Force speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
The project will be led by Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich, and Palmer Luckey, whom Hegseth described as "the best forecasters of future conflict."
Hegseth emphasized the role of innovators and technologists in addressing future conflicts creatively.
"Project Meridian will ruthlessly map the trajectory of wars, domains, and technologies to ensure this War Department, your War Department, dominates the future," he said.
The initiative will collaborate with private sector leaders and Pentagon CTO Emil Michael to identify key domains to conquer.
Findings are expected within 120 days, followed by a public rollout.
Before this announcement, Hegseth introduced the Autonomous Warfare Command, focused on robotics, AI, and drone warfare—areas of interest for Musk and Luckey.
The speech also included distribution of a 144-page field manual containing Hegseth's philosophy, with a foreword by Donald Trump pledging not to send American soldiers into "dumb wars."
Trump's foreword, shared by ABC News, stated, "Our goal is PEACE, which is why we prepare for War—Especially the Wars of the future," and promised, "I will unleash you to be violent, lethal and unstoppable—and I will always have your back."
The Trump administration's military decisions since returning to office have been described as brash and at times irrational, including a covert raid in Venezuela and sudden shifts in U.
S. foreign policy involving Ukraine, Taiwan, and Cuba.
U. S.
involvement in the Iran war began after a February 11 meeting between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and officials, with Netanyahu's influence reportedly pushing the conflict forward without congressional approval.
Since then, at least 22 U. S.
service members have been killed and over 820 wounded, with thousands of casualties reported in Iran as well.
