Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will co-direct a Pentagon study on future warfare

Elon Musk Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will codirect a Pentagon study on future warfare with a public report due within 120 days the US Department of War has announcedSecretary Pete Hegseth commissioned Project Meridian to identify the capabilities the United States will need to maintain longterm military superiority The study will examine potential battlefield requirements across a broad range of domains including underground operations and the EarthMoon regionThe departments chief technology officer Emil Michael is facilitating the project Its three codirectors will be supported by experts from academia policy and industry according to the official release The department said Project Meridian will examine the full spectrum of future warfighting domains from subterranean depths to the cislunar frontierHegseth directed the project to be completed within 120 days of its establishment The final report will be unclassified and released publicly with a separate classified annexThe department said the report would contain findings and recommendations on the advanced systems needed for future conflicts It presented the exercise as an effort to identify technological requirements and accelerate the introduction of those systems into military serviceThe department added Should deterrence fail our warfighters must enter any future conflict with the technological advantage secured through todays foresight resolve and preparationProject Meridian was one of six initiatives Hegseth unveiled during a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia He addressed activeduty officers and noncommissioned officers who would be involved in carrying out the changesThe other initiatives cover autonomous warfare officer training domestic supply chains military installations and religious supportHegseth announced plans to establish an Autonomous Warfare Command as a fourstar functional combatant command by October 1 2027 The department said the initiative would expand the use of autonomous systems across the joint forceA separate programme FORTRESS America seeks to strengthen military installations against disruption and reduce dependence on foreign sources for critical materials and componentsIts stated priorities include independent power generation at major bases domestic supply chains for rare earths and semiconductors strategic reserves of essential supplies and protection against cyberattacks sabotage and dronesThe Next Great American Base project would create a new military installation with independent power generation autonomous systems and advanced air defences States would compete to host it by submitting proposals offering land and supportThe department also announced Americas Corps of Cadets involving additional fulltime programmes at five universities and colleges and an Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to HegsethIt said the religious affairs office would support the service chaplaincies and protect voluntary access to religious support without compelling participation or favouring one faithMusk founded SpaceX in 2002 The company designs and launches rockets and spacecraft Luckey founded Anduril Industries a US defence technology companyGingrich a Republican from Georgia served as speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999 He held the position during the 104th and 105th CongressesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever