Hegseth Envisions ‘Bolts of Lightning’ and Killer Drones as He Attempts To Turbocharge an Entrenched Pentagon Bureaucracy

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering the U.S. military to put on the full “armor of God,” as he embraces “major institutional change” at the Pentagon, but one expert believes the real battle will be fought in the Pentagon bureaucracy, which remains undefeated in all its internal conflicts since the organization’s establishment in 1949.Mr. Hegseth’s sweeping plans include setting up a separate command for drone warfare, as Special Operations Command was set up for elite warriors in 1987, a point that he referenced in a Wednesday speech to an auditorium of 600 troops at a Marine Corps base outside Washington. He referenced the Pentagon “revolt” at the creation of Special Operations Command, institutional opposition to sending armored vehicles to troops in Iraq, and resistance to President Trump’s creation of the Space Force as obstacles previous secretaries had to overcome.“Yet, when the final order was given, the military executed and the force was better off as a result,” Mr. Hegseth said.Mr. Hegseth’s retrospection was part of a discussion on the future of warfare and the Trump administration’s vision, which includes fewer flag-rank officers, more autonomous weaponry, a new stateside military base and retooling the existing commissioning pipeline to the officer corps rather than from within America’s universities.“We need bolts of lightning,” Mr. Hegseth said. “High-end kill chains capable of striking unexpectedly and decisively.”To reach his ends, Mr. Hegseth announced the military will stand up a new warfare command exclusively devoted to drone warfare. Autonomous Warfare Command — AutoWarCom — will be led by a four-star general and enlist service members trained in unmanned-specific specializations.“The autonomous and robotic revolution has enormous implications for equipment, doctrine, organization, and the assumptions that have governed warfare for decades,” Mr. Hegseth said. “Civilian leaders can provide direction and urgency, but lasting change must be anchored in military command structures and operationalized by leaders across our joint force.”The new drone command was just one part of a speech Wednesday that represented a look both forward and to the past for the U.S. military. Even as Mr. Hegseth unveiled futuristic plans for the next generation of warfare, he insisted American strategy should be guided by ancient warrior ethos that extends back through the Athenian League, the Roman Legion, and the Continental Army.“We need students of Western Civilization and the pillars of our Republic,” Mr. Hegseth said in his State of the Force speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. “Leaders who understand the faith of Jerusalem, the philosophy of Athens, the power of Rome, and the freedom of Philadelphia, circa 1776. Officers of the Republic, proud of our country, proud of our heritage, and proud of our history and those who serve it.”Democrats reacted swiftly, condemning Mr. Hegseth’s aims and remarks.“Hegseth is waging an illegal, immoral Holy war,” said Congressman Ro Khanna of California, who called on Congress to take up outgoing Congressman Thomas Massie’s impeachment resolution against Mr. Hegseth. “We are not in the time of the crusades.”The defense secretary will need to triumph over opponents in the halls of Capitol Hill, at the White House, and in the Pentagon, as the future of integrating drone warfare into military planning becomes de rigeur, an international security professor at Rutgers, Wojtek Wolfe, told The New York Sun.Mr. Wolfe said the debate is over about the use of autonomous systems in warfare. The question now for the U.S. military is how autonomous weapons will be integrated into existing forces, and whether a new command would impede efforts to spread unmanned efforts across the different services.“The topic itself is so dynamic, and the rate of change is so rapid that it makes sense to move forward and recognize autonomous warfare is an integral part of strategy and tactics,” Mr. Wolfe said. “I think the debates will now intensify as to whether or not autonomous warfare requires the same level of policy and budgetary autonomy as Special Operations Command, and if that’s going to be a detriment to autonomous warfare integration into other war-fighting segments,” he added.How it happens is indeed the driver of debate. Special Operations Command oversees all special operations forces across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. When the individual service’s special operations units work together, SOCOM commands the mission. A new command for unmanned warfare would have assets and missions all over the world and could conflict with other service’s areas of responsibility.As part of the modernization drive, Mr. Hegseth announced a new initiative, Project Agincourt, which will combine existing departmental procurement efforts with operational needs to more quickly secure unmanned equipment to counter a specific threat. It’s modeled in part on the transformation of the Ukrainian military, which was forced to innovate with drones amid a full-scale invasion by numerically superior Russian forces.Like during Agincourt, the 1415 battle in France where the new English technology of long bows turned the tide, Mr. Hegseth said he would draw expertise from outside the military to forecast the future of war. A study of the future of warfare called Project Meridian will be co-led by the former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and co-founder of the defense firm Anduril Industries Palmer Luckey.“Luckey has been leading the industry in terms of disrupting the industry with autonomous warfare so this is a step up for him toward larger projects,” Mr. Wolfe said. “Musk and his work with SpaceX is going to be the larger connect to the DoD as a whole and space warfare.”Both Mr. Musk’s SpaceX and Anduril already hold hundreds of millions in government contracts. Anduril has been tapped for anti-drone systems for the Marines.“It’s a serious attempt to get a large bureaucracy steeped in history up to speed on autonomous warfare,” said Mr. Wolfe, who noted that China’s centralized civil-military fusion policy challenges America’s more diffuse defense and private sectors. “Success will depend on many factors within the new autonomous group … from a policy perspective it might get ugly, but the DoD needs an overhaul and a supply-chain revamp.”Mr. Hegseth also confirmed plans for fewer general officer slots. With 10 percent of the generals and admirals across the U.S. military fired or retired over the last year — many of the departures resulting from what the Trump administration describes as a bloated and politically correct bureaucracy, Mr. Hegseth said he plans to get rid of 10 percent more.“Under the guise of double-blind psychology assessments, the previous administration forced out so-called ‘toxic leaders’ in favor of promoting risk-averse, get-along-to-go-along conformists,” Mr. Hegseth said. “It was the true politicization of the military. Stupid, and dangerous.”In an X post added after the speech, Mr. Hegseth summarized his comments: “No fatties. No trannies. No beardos. No weirdoes. No wimps. No radicals — JUST WARRIORS.”The group VoteVets called Mr. Hegseth’s speech “unhinged.” “One thing is clear: Hegseth is more focused on winning cultural wars than real ones,” VoteVets wrote on social media. Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the turn away from a culturally diverse military has made the Defense Department weaker and less effective. “Our Secretary of Defense is spending his time disrespecting our troops and our veterans to distract from the fact that this administration is a failure,” Mr. Markey said. “Diversity makes our troops stronger, not weaker. Pete Hegseth has to go.”Speaking on the last day of the federal fiscal year, September 30, Mr. Hegseth said he planned his State of the Force speech to start an annual tradition. The White House has asked for a $1.5 trillion defense appropriation from Congress. A separate $350 billion request to be approved through a process known as reconciliation remains stalled in Congress after lawmakers left town Thursday to campaign ahead of the midterm election on November 3. The unfinished package includes funding for the proposed Golden Dome missile shield and fresh munitions.“President Trump has promised a generational investment in the War Department, and we are going to deliver,” said Mr. Hegseth, urging Congress to pass the extra $350 billion package. “We must fund the future fight. That, I know, is imperative.”Mr. Hegseth’s references to the past were met by a lofty and matched skepticism of his decision-making.“Hegseth thinks he’s Patton but he’s closer to the crazy general in ‘Dr. Strangelove,’” added a University of Virginia professor of politics Larry Sabato, who leads the Crystal Ball polling group.

Hegseth Envisions ‘Bolts of Lightning’ and Killer Drones as He Attempts To Turbocharge an Entrenched Pentagon Bureaucracy

Hegseth Envisions ‘Bolts of Lightning’ and Killer Drones as He Attempts To Turbocharge an Entrenched Pentagon Bureaucracy

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