Budget · Autonomy
Autonomous Warfare Command startup funding hinges on reconciliation, Defense One reports
Defense One reports the Pentagon is seeking startup money through a separate reconciliation bill whose passage is uncertain.
The Department of War requested $54 billion earlier this year for the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, Defense One reports. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said the group would help launch the Autonomous Warfare Command. The administration requested the money alongside other military priorities through a separate reconciliation bill outside the $1 trillion defense budget.1
Defense One: Autonomous Warfare Command startup funding remains a request
Funding request and command establishment target
Defense One reports Hegseth said the group would be used to launch the command. The requested money sits in a separate bill whose passage is uncertain.
Reported by Defense One, Oct. 25, 2026; Secretary of War memo. As of Oct. 25, 2026.
Hegseth said at an Oct. 14 panel that the command would become the Pentagon's official purchaser of autonomous technology, but offered few other details. The startup money remains a request, with passage of the funding bill uncertain.1
A Pentagon official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, reiterated the $54 billion reconciliation request when Defense One asked about a backup funding plan.1
Hegseth's memo says the command will possess directed manpower, budget and acquisition authorities. It directs collaboration with Congress to secure necessary legislation, with a target establishment date of Oct. 1, 2027. It requires a plan of action and milestones within 30 days, identifying resources and required authorities.2 Defense One reports the plan is due at the end of October.1
John G. Ferrari, an American Enterprise Institute nonresident senior fellow and retired two-star general, told Defense One reconciliation money must arrive by Christmas, before the new Congress is seated in January. Without it, he said, the Pentagon could still stand up the organization, but it won't have the buying power necessary to meet its mission. Mark Cancian suggested drawing acquisition money from the services, an alternative he told the outlet would be difficult.1
Sources (2)
- Defense One: Funding, force-structure issues could hinder Hegseth's new autonomous command (Oct. 25, 2026) www.defenseone.com
- Secretary of War memo: Project Agincourt - Pathway to the Autonomous Warfare Command media.defense.gov