The Pentagon promotes a revolution in military procurement, and a new generation of AI autonomous weapons will be put directly into frontline testing

Schematic diagram of the US military operating small tactical unmanned aerial vehicles. The Pentagon promotes a procurement revolution and orders a new generation of AI autonomous weapons to break through the long bureaucratic review and approval process. As long as conditions permit, they will be directly put into frontline training and actual combat verification. (Picture taken from AeroVironment official website)

[Compiled by Chen Chengliang/Comprehensive Report] The Pentagon's long-criticized procurement system is facing complete overturn. U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegseth announced the promotion of a radical military procurement revolution, criticizing that the speed of traditional arms approval has completely failed to keep up with the changes in modern warfare. He ordered the U.S. military's new generation of AI autonomous weapons to break the long verification process. As long as conditions permit, they will be directly put into realistic training and actual combat environments for testing while eliminating the inferior ones and accelerating the expansion of mass production.

The US "Military Times" reported that Hegseth bluntly stated in a "State of the Force" speech at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia on September 30: "The pace of war change has far exceeded the bureaucratic procedures to support it." In addition to preparing for the establishment of an "Autonomous Combat Command" (AutoWarCom) led by a four-star general, the Pentagon will launch a transitional pilot program in the next year to completely transform the weapons research and development model.

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Hegseth defined this new mechanism as "warfighting acquisition." In the past, it often took several years or even more than ten years for the U.S. military to go from project establishment, bidding to verification and verification. The new model directly breaks through bureaucratic barriers and delegates procurement decision-making power and funds directly to frontline combat headquarters and combat units, allowing frontline officers and soldiers to directly work with civilian engineers and technology start-ups to jointly develop and modify weapons in a very short period of time, and even directly test the system limits in a battlefield environment.

Decisions go straight to the front lines of the battle, and weapons are tested while being fired.

In order to implement this radical transformation, Hegseth assigned Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Director Owen West and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Max Strasser to jointly lead the pilot plan to break down service barriers with a combination of technology CEO and special operations operations chief.

Hegseth emphasized that the U.S. military cannot rely solely on expensive high-end weapons and must adopt a "high-low-match" strategy. He likened a large number of low-cost autonomous drones to the wind and rain in a storm, while high-end weapons are deadly lightning. The two must coexist.

The Pentagon will also begin to introduce a new Military Specialty Structure (MOS) to establish an exclusive military career promotion track for future unmanned system operators. Taking the Ukrainian battlefield as an example, Hegseth emphasized that modern warfare requires weapon systems that can be quickly adjusted according to combat conditions. The US military must develop, test and modify independent equipment at a speed consistent with the evolution of war.