US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced that the United States plans to deploy hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones this year, scaling to millions in the years ahead, as the Pentagon moves to establish a dedicated four-star-led autonomous warfare command. Hegseth made the remarks at the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington, outlining the most sweeping publicly stated expansion of unmanned military systems in American history.

The AutoWarCom Plan

The planned command, formally designated the Autonomous Warfare Command (AutoWarCom), is intended to coordinate the development, acquisition, training, and operational use of autonomous weapons across all armed services — including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force. The Pentagon announced the initiative on 30 September, with Project Agincourt serving as an interim organisational effort. The department aims to formally establish AutoWarCom by 1 October 2027, subject to congressional approval and necessary organisational arrangements.

Hegseth said the new command would be led by a four-star military officer with sufficient authority to cut across service-branch bureaucracies and accelerate decision-making. 'The services are not fighting us on this concept. They believe in it,' he told the gathering.

Scale and Funding

The Pentagon is seeking approximately $50 billion in additional funding to accelerate autonomous and robotic systems development — a proposal separate from the department's fiscal 2027 budget request, which already includes $53.6 billion for its broader Drone Dominance initiative. Hegseth was explicit about the ambition: 'Ultimately we will be dealing with hundreds of thousands of one-way attack systems this year and into the millions in years to come at a pace that this department's never ever seen before.'

It is important to note that the proposed expenditure remains subject to congressional action and does not represent funding already approved or disbursed. Under the existing Drone Dominance programme, the Army had already outlined plans to acquire approximately 340,000 small unmanned aircraft systems over two years.

Why Drones, Why Now

The push reflects battlefield lessons from recent conflicts, where relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft have demonstrated outsized effectiveness in reconnaissance, targeting, and precision strikes against conventional military forces. Hegseth argued that traditional procurement timelines — often stretching years — are incompatible with the pace at which drone technology is evolving and being adopted by adversaries.

The initiative combines advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and commercial manufacturing, aiming to bring engineers, manufacturers, and military operators into tighter cooperation. Military personnel, he said, must be able to experiment with new technologies and adapt equipment without waiting for lengthy procurement cycles.

Broader Scope: Beyond Weapons Procurement

Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle said the service was working to expand access to military testing facilities for technology developers and strengthen training in robotics and autonomous systems. Other military leaders at the meeting discussed efforts to develop autonomous aircraft, unmanned maritime systems, and technologies capable of operating in contested environments.

Notably, AutoWarCom is designed to oversee changes in military doctrine and training as well — not to function solely as a weapons procurement body. This signals a structural shift in how the US military conceptualises autonomous warfare: not as a capability add-on, but as a foundational organising principle.

What Comes Next

The command's operational capabilities, funding, and deployment targets will depend on subsequent decisions by Congress and the Pentagon. With the 2027 establishment deadline in view, the coming months will test whether the institutional momentum behind AutoWarCom can survive budget negotiations and inter-service coordination challenges.