Elon Musk to help Pentagon identify weapons, tech for future wars

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will lead the "Project Meridian" alongside Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will co-lead a new Pentagon initiative to identify the military capabilities, technologies, and weapons the US may need for future wars, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, reported CNBC.

 

Musk will lead the initiative called “Project Meridian” alongside Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Hegseth announced the initiative during a “State of the Force” address to junior officers and enlisted leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

 

The 120-day project will look years and decades ahead at how warfare could change and what capabilities the US military will need to maintain its technological edge.

 

 

“Project Meridian, the future of warfare, is not about developing new strategies or new policies,” Hegseth said. The initiative will instead “identify the domains that we must conquer, and capabilities we must master,” quoted CNBC.

 

"The project will focus on discovering, developing, and fielding weapons and systems that future US troops may need across battlefields ranging from under the Earth to beyond the moon,” Hegseth said.

 

Pentagon technology chief Emil Michael will oversee the project, with Musk, Luckey and Gingrich serving as co-leads. The broader team will include representatives from government, industry, academia and public policy.

 

The initiative comes as the Pentagon pushes to expand the use of autonomous systems and other emerging technologies in warfare.

 

Musk’s SpaceX and Luckey’s Anduril already have significant business with the US Department of Defense. SpaceX was awarded a $4.16 billion Space Force contract in May to build satellites designed to track and target airborne threats, days after receiving a $2.29 billion contract for a military satellite communications network.

 

Anduril, which develops autonomous weapons and other military technology, was awarded a contract worth up to $642 million by the US Marine Corps in 2025 for counter-drone systems.

 

Hegseth also announced plans for a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command aimed at scaling autonomous and robotic systems across the US military.