The picture shows Hegseth attending the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA). (DVIDS)
[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] U.S. Secretary of War Hegseth recently proposed an investment concept of US$50 billion (approximately NT$1.62 trillion) at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA). He plans to increase the scale of the U.S. military's autonomous weapons from thousands to potentially millions of units, covering single-way attack drones, robotic ground vehicles and maritime unmanned systems. Through industrialized mass production, it will enhance the U.S. military's continuous combat capabilities in high-intensity conflicts.
The military news website "Army Recognition" reported that Hegseth explained the Pentagon's plan to expand independent weapons production at the 2026 AUSA annual meeting in Washington. According to the plan, the U.S. military hopes to change its past model of mainly purchasing small quantities of high-priced military equipment and shift to mass production of unmanned weapons that are affordable and can be quickly replenished, so that the troops can continue to perform reconnaissance, precision strikes and battlefield support tasks even in long-term attrition wars.
Among them, suicide attack drones will be an important development project, which can be used to attack enemy armored vehicles, artillery positions and logistics transportation targets, and reduce the risk of pilots and ground troops being directly exposed to combat areas. By deploying a large number of expendable drones, the US military can also reserve expensive precision missiles and manned fighter aircraft for missions that require longer range, larger payloads or higher survivability.
In addition to aerial drones, the Pentagon also plans to expand the use of autonomous ground vehicles and maritime unmanned systems. Ground robots can perform battlefield reconnaissance, ammunition transportation, casualty evacuation and some combat tasks; unmanned surface and underwater vehicles can support maritime surveillance, mine countermeasures operations and other high-risk tasks.
It is worth noting that this funding proposal will also support the Pentagon's "Project Agincourt" (Project Agincourt), which will accelerate the development, mass production and force integration of independent weapons, and establish an "Autonomous Warfare Command" (Autonomous Warfare Command) to coordinate the needs of various services, reduce duplication of procurement, and improve the interoperability of different unmanned systems.
In addition, the US Department of Defense's 2027 fiscal year budget requirements also list approximately US$53.6 billion in "Drone Dominance" related capability funding, covering areas such as unmanned equipment, anti-drone defense, high-threat environment logistics, and collaborative autonomous technology. However, it is not yet possible to confirm whether this budget overlaps with the $50 billion proposed by Hegseth, so it cannot be directly added up.
However, to achieve the scale of millions of independent weapons, the U.S. defense industry still needs to expand production lines to ensure a stable supply of motors, batteries, sensors and electronic components while reducing costs. The US military must also simultaneously strengthen operator training, electronic warfare protection, command and control, and logistics maintenance capabilities in order to truly transform mass-produced unmanned weapons into sustained combat capabilities.
