Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on 21 October 2026 announced that the Trump administration is seeking a $1.5 trillion investment in the US military, describing a sweeping overhaul of Pentagon procurement to accelerate weapons production, expand autonomous warfare capabilities, and reduce American dependence on foreign defence supply chains.

What Hegseth Announced

Speaking to defence industry workers during visits to Ohio and Wisconsin, Hegseth outlined a vision for a fundamentally transformed American military-industrial base. “We’re asking for a $1.5 trillion investment to make a generational investment, to ensure that we remain the strongest and most powerful military in the world,” he said at Sierra Nevada Corporation in Dayton, Ohio.

He also called on Congress to approve a reconciliation package providing at least $350 billion in defence-related funding, arguing that manufacturers needed long-term purchasing certainty to justify investment in new production facilities.

Pentagon Procurement Overhaul

Hegseth criticised acquisition programmes that take a decade or longer to deliver weapons, saying the department now wanted critical capabilities available within months or a few years. Under the proposed model, companies investing in new factories, equipment, and workers could receive contracts covering five to seven years of production — a structural departure from the current cycle of short-term procurement awards.

He cited Project Meridian, a recently launched initiative aimed at improving connectivity across military platforms and accelerating the integration of emerging technologies, as one example of the new approach already in motion.

Autonomous Warfare Command and New Domains

A cornerstone of the announcement was the proposed Autonomous Warfare Command, which Hegseth described as a four-star command with joint responsibilities for robotics, artificial intelligence, and unmanned military systems. The command would coordinate autonomous capabilities across all branches of the armed forces.

He said future conflicts would increasingly be decided across multiple domains — space, underwater environments, cyberspace, and autonomous systems. “Whoever controls subsea and cislunar is going to destroy control the next fight,” he said, according to a preliminary transcript, in remarks that appeared to address competition over underwater and space-related operational environments.

At Sierra Nevada Corporation, Hegseth highlighted work on the next-generation Survivable Airborne Operations Center, a command aircraft designed to preserve presidential authority during a national emergency, including a nuclear crisis. He also cited the Brawler and Mauler air-defence systems, which he said US commanders were already deploying in two operational theatres to counter asymmetric threats.

Opening Procurement to Smaller Firms

Hegseth said the Pentagon intended to reduce its dependence on a small number of established defence contractors by extending procurement opportunities to smaller manufacturers and emerging technology firms. The administration aims to create additional major defence suppliers through sustained competition and longer-term purchasing commitments.

During his Wisconsin stop, he highlighted the role of small businesses in producing components for advanced weapons, aircraft, and radar systems. Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler said a joint Pentagon initiative was backing smaller defence manufacturers and had approximately $175 million in prospective deals in critical minerals and industrial inputs.

Accountability and Strategic Context

Hegseth pledged that the Pentagon would pass a full financial audit before the end of the administration in 2028, acknowledging that the department had repeatedly failed to meet congressional audit requirements. He framed stronger financial accountability as an essential accompaniment to the expansion in defence spending.

He also linked the modernisation drive to the administration’s broader strategic posture, including recent efforts at US Central Command aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Notably, the announcement comes as the United States already operates the world’s largest defence budget and an extensive global network of military bases, alliances, and overseas deployments. The proposed $1.5 trillion figure would represent a substantial expansion beyond that baseline, with the full shape of funding contingent on Congressional approval.