Pentagon Taps Musk and Luckey to Chart Future of Warfare

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has put Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in charge of a new Pentagon effort to study how future wars will be fought. The initiative, announced Wednesday during Hegseth's "State of the Force" address, is called Project Meridian.

The group will work under the direction of Defense Department CTO Emil Michael, joined by additional members drawn from academia and policy. Their mandate, according to Hegseth's announcement letter, is to "study the battlefields of the future" and the "weapons and technologies warfighters" may use on them.

The timeline is tight. The team has 120 days to submit findings and propose "actionable solutions to start developing, testing, and fielding" advanced technology intended to keep America a dominant military power, per Hegseth. The Pentagon has not disclosed how many people will serve on the team.

Hegseth paired the announcement with a second initiative: a new Autonomous Warfare Command charged with accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous systems and drones.

One detail in the Pentagon's announcement stands out for its opacity. The study will run through a partner organization, but the announcement names neither the organization nor its leader.

When TechCrunch contacted the Defense Department for comment, the department pointed to its press release and said it had "nothing further to provide beyond the Secretary's comments."

Musk's return to the fold

The appointments fit a pattern. Musk has reportedly renewed close ties with the administration and recently had lunch with the president — alongside other top AI leaders — to discuss the future of AI. Project Meridian appears to mark his first official return to the administration's fold since he left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year.

Both men bring deep Pentagon entanglements. Musk's SpaceX launches satellites for the U.S. government and operates a satellite network supporting national defense and security missions. Luckey's Anduril builds autonomous military systems and drones, and recently won government contracts to produce long-range missiles, semi-autonomous fighter aircraft, and supply hardware and integration for the Army's mobile intelligence system.

The Trump administration has made advanced military technology a priority, both in development and in procurement, and has consistently turned to Silicon Valley-favored companies to execute that agenda.

The conflict question

The arrangement invites an obvious critique. Critics could argue that placing Musk and Luckey on Project Meridian directly aligns the study with their commercial interests, since the two men would be steering the Pentagon toward solutions their own companies already sell.

Neither the 120-day deadline nor the unnamed partner organization has quieted that concern. The findings, when they arrive, will signal whether the project functions as an independent strategy review or as a procurement roadmap for a handful of defense contractors with seats at the table.