For decades, the Pentagon bought weapons the slow way. A handful of giant contractors, programs that took a decade to field, price tags that only went up. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is trying to break that habit, and he deserves credit for it.
Last week, at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting in Washington, Hegseth made the case for a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command that would put unmanned systems at the center of how every branch fights. He did not ask for another study or a pilot program. He told the audience the Pentagon needs that authority now, The Hill reported.
That urgency is the right instinct. Cheap drones have changed the modern battlefield, and the country that can build them by the million will hold the edge. Hegseth gets this. The Pentagon is seeking about $50 billion in reconciliation funding for autonomous and robotic systems, Military Times reported, on top of $53.6 billion for the Drone Dominance initiative in the fiscal 2027 budget request. The goal is to go from thousands of autonomous weapons to millions.
Hegseth also cares who builds them. He has said the big contractors still have a role, but the military needs lower-cost systems made at scale, and newer companies deserve a real shot at the work. That is how a stale market gets competitive. It also puts more defense dollars in the hands of American engineers and factories that were long shut out.
He made the pitch alongside acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, a sign the services are lining up behind the same plan.
Hegseth is also asking more of allies, and at least one is saying yes. When he hosted British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting at the Pentagon on Thursday, the two discussed what Hegseth calls NATO 3.0, in which European nations take primary responsibility for their own conventional defense. Streeting agreed that Europe has to rely more on itself, according to the Pentagon's news service. American presidents have asked Europe to carry more of the load for years. This time, a key ally is on board.
All of it costs money. That is why Hegseth calls passage of the $1.5 trillion defense budget request his department's top priority and a one-time generational investment. Congress should treat it that way.
His plans go beyond hardware. At Marine Corps Base Quantico on Sept. 30, he announced plans for a new military base at home, with governors competing to host it, and partnerships with five more colleges to grow cadet programs. More bases and more young officers are long-term bets on a stronger force.
Critics will keep finding things to fight over. But on the question that matters most, whether the U.S. military is getting ready for the next war instead of the last one, Hegseth has it right. And he is moving fast.