WASHINGTON – The Army is moving quickly to implement Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s direction to expand autonomous and robotic capabilities across the Joint Force. In a memorandum signed today, Acting Secretary of the Army Adam R. Telle directed the establishment of the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, or FASCOM, while also ordering changes to Army force structure, acquisition and personnel.
The memorandum follows Sec. Hegseth’s Sept. 30 State of the Force address, where he announced the establishment of an Autonomous Warfare Command and called on the military departments to build the organizations, acquisition approaches and career fields needed to accelerate autonomy.
"Secretary Hegseth made it clear: We are done with the bureaucratic inertia holding back modernization,” said Telle. “The Army is rapidly advancing to maintain our lethal edge. We are forging the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command to get cutting-edge technology into the hands of Soldiers, while prioritizing autonomy in our formations, our acquisitions, and our training to dominate the future of warfare. This is about combat readiness to destroy the enemy and ensure our Army never enters a fair fight. All of this is only possible because of President Trump’s unparalleled leadership."
Under Sec. Telle’s directive, the Army will integrate autonomous capabilities into at least six formation areas, including aviation, armor, fires, sustainment, engineer and training formations. The Army will also designate a Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Autonomy and prioritize the acquisition and fielding of autonomous fires, combat vehicles, watercraft resupply, breaching, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition capabilities, as well as collaborative teaming between crewed and uncrewed platforms, no later than fiscal year 2028. This effort builds on work already underway, including the Army’s activation of the Capability Program Executive Office for Mission Autonomy earlier this year to integrate autonomous technologies across multiple Army portfolios.
The directive also addresses the Soldiers and technical experts required to employ these systems. The Army will expand authorizations for 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Specialists and 390A Robotics Technicians across applicable units, increasing trained autonomy professionals closer to tactical formations.
Together, these actions align Army organizations, acquisition and talent with Sec. Hegseth’s department-wide push to institutionalize autonomous warfare and give Soldiers the capabilities and expertise needed to operate on a rapidly changing battlefield.
Army Autonomous Initiatives.pdf [PDF - 1.7 MB]
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