WASHINGTON D.C. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a new combatant command for autonomous warfare in a speech to troops. The Autonomous Warfare Command is scheduled to be formally established by October 1, 2027.

The U.S. Army announced the creation of the Futures and Autonomous Systems Command (FASCOM). FASCOM will be led by an acquisition executive rather than a four-star general. A September 30 memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth states the planned Autonomous Warfare Command will promote "not a particular drone, but the ability to adapt in combat" against realistic opposition.

Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle stated in a news release, "Secretary Hegseth made it clear: We are done with the bureaucratic inertia holding back modernization." The Army will expand authorizations for 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Specialists and 390A Robotics Technicians to increase trained autonomy professionals closer to tactical formations, as directed by Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle’s memo. The memo designates a Portfolio Acquisition Executive for autonomy and directs the Army’s operations chief to determine manning requirements for units incorporating autonomous capabilities. Primary source: army.mil

FASCOM will be established following the consolidation of Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command. The Army is expected to provide additional details about FASCOM at the AUSA annual symposium in Washington D.C., beginning October 12, 2026.

Gabe Murphy, a policy analyst with Taxpayers for Common Sense, stated, "By Secretary Hegseth’s own admission, the purpose of this combatant command is to cut out the oversight that autonomous systems so desperately need by deploying untested autonomous weapons in combat." He added, "That approach promises to waste a tremendous amount of taxpayer dollars while also endangering service members and threatening the missions they’re tasked with carrying out."

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He stated the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems' "culminating mission" will "take place over the course of months, clearing the path for Autonomous Warfare Command." He stated in a September 30 memo, "We do not have a decade to transition our procurement and doctrine." He said the new command will be "a new four-star combatant command … built to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force." He stated, "We also need steady wind and rain: mass drones and other autonomous attritable systems that flip the cost exchange and impose unrelenting pressure on an adversary on the battlefield." He said, "The pace of war is changing faster than the processes to support it." He stated, "We need bolts of lightning … our existing high-end kill chains." He said Owen West and Max Strasiser will run the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems under a "unique CEO-COO partnership." He stated, "This model fuses operators with entrepreneurs in rapid adaptation cycles, while distributing decisions and dollars closer to frontline units and the combatant commands."