Exclusive: Army creates autonomy command amid Hegseth's robo-warfare push

The U.S. Army is creating a new autonomous systems command and appointing an acquisition executive to prioritize buying and fielding smart machinery, according to a memo first seen by Axios.

Why it matters: Directions to do so come from acting service Secretary Adam Telle and were issued a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed the Meridian and Agincourt projects, both focused on the robotized future of warfare.

• Hegseth "made it clear: We are done with the bureaucratic inertia holding back modernization," Telle told Axios.

Zoom in: The Thursday memo, titled "Army Autonomous Initiatives," includes several directives:

1. Establish Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, or FASCOM.
2. Conduct "autonomous force development to create force structure aligning autonomous capability" in at least six service formations, including aviation, armor, sustainment and training.
3. Designate a "portfolio acquisition executive for autonomy" and focus this fiscal year on autonomous fires, combat vehicles, watercraft resupply, breachers, surveillance and targeting, and more.
4. Expand authorizations for 15X and 390A military occupational specialties to "all applicable Army units." (The service in August described 15X, tactical unmanned aircraft systems specialist, as its newest role.)

Zoom out: U.S. military leadership has for years advocated for manned-unmanned teaming. The incredible success of drones in Eastern Europe — whether on the ground, in the air or on the water — has raised the stakes.

The bottom line: "The Army is rapidly advancing to maintain our lethal edge," Telle said. "This is about combat readiness to destroy the enemy and ensure our Army never enters a fair fight."

Go deeper: Inside the 82nd Airborne's machine-fueled fight