Hegseth names Musk, Luckey and Gingrich to lead Pentagon's Project Meridian study

Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday 30 September, in a "State of the Force" address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, that Elon Musk will co-lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon study of future warfare. 1 2 Musk will lead alongside Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, under the direction of the department's chief technology officer, Emil Michael. 1 2 The group has 120 days to map future battlefields and technologies, ending in a public rollout of findings and a classified annex, according to Fox News. 1 2

Hegseth said outside forecasters are needed because "there are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them." 1 He also announced an Autonomous Warfare Command, described as a four-star combatant command meant to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities. 1 2 SpaceX, Musk's company, is a major Pentagon contractor, and Luckey's Anduril makes autonomous weapons and has recently won government contracts. 1 2

Fox News said this could raise conflict-of-interest questions, and TechCrunch said critics could argue the roles align with the men's business interests. 1 2 TechCrunch noted the announcement does not name the partner organization the study will run through or say how many people will serve, and the Defense Department offered no further comment. 2 TechCrunch described the role as Musk's first official return to the administration since he left the Department of Government Efficiency last year. 2