Pentagon Taps Musk, Luckey and Gingrich for a 120-Day Review of Future Warfare

Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey will help identify the technologies and weapons the U.S. military may need in future wars, while their companies already hold major Pentagon contracts. They will join former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in leading Project Meridian, a 120-day examination of how warfare could change over the coming years and decades.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the initiative on September 30, 2026, during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Speaking to junior officers and enlisted leaders, he described an effort to anticipate future battlefields and identify the capabilities needed to maintain a technological edge.

Pentagon technology chief Emil Michael will oversee the project. Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Luckey, an Anduril co-founder, and Gingrich will serve as co-leads. Hegseth said a broader team will draw members from government, industry, academia and the policy world, bringing several kinds of expertise into the same review.

Capabilities, not a new strategy

Hegseth drew a distinction between deciding what the military must be able to do and writing new rules for how it operates. He said Meridian should identify the domains the United States must master and the capabilities it needs, rather than develop new strategies or policies. Its emphasis is on future weapons and systems.

identify the domains that we must conquer, and capabilities we must master.

Pete Hegseth, describing Project Meridian’s purpose in his September 30 address

Artificial intelligence is one part of that assignment, not its sole subject. In a memo quoted by the Guardian, Hegseth cited rapid advances in AI, autonomy, directed energy, robotics and biotechnology. He argued that these technologies, alongside new domains and ways of fighting, would profoundly alter warfare and require the United States to anticipate future operating environments.

The geographic scope is similarly ambitious. Hegseth described future battlefields stretching from beneath the Earth to beyond the moon. He said the effort would focus on discovering, developing and fielding the weapons and systems troops may need in those environments. The review therefore looks beyond improvements to equipment used on today’s battlefields.

According to the Guardian’s account of the Defense Department announcement, the project is expected to end with an unclassified public report of recommendations. That makes the planned output advice about future capabilities, rather than a new strategy or policy. The department described its goal as identifying what is required for technological dominance on the next-generation battlefield.

The suppliers helping define demand

Musk and Luckey bring direct commercial ties to the customer they will advise. SpaceX has extensive Pentagon business, while Anduril develops autonomous weapons and other military technology. Their appointments put them in a position to help identify future needs while their companies compete for defense contracts. CNBC identified several existing awards that show the scale of those relationships:

• SpaceX received a $4.16 billion Space Force contract in May for satellites designed to track and target airborne threats.
• Days earlier, SpaceX received a separate $2.29 billion contract for a military satellite communications network.
• Anduril received a Marine Corps contract worth up to $642 million in 2025 for counter-drone systems.

None of the three co-leads has served in the U.S. military. Their selection places civilian technology and policy figures at the head of the review, under Michael’s oversight. Anduril, SpaceX, Tesla and Gingrich did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the announcement.