The Pentagon has launched a new initiative called Project Meridian aimed at identifying the weapons, technologies, and military capabilities that the U.S. may require in future conflicts. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the project during his State of the Force address on September 30, 2026, at Marine Corps Base Quantico. The initiative will spend 120 days looking ahead to how warfare will evolve over the coming years and decades, focusing on domains from below the Earth’s surface to outer space, and prioritizing the development and deployment of new systems.

Key figures involved in Project Meridian include Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, along with Luckey, co-founder of defense tech firm Anduril, will serve as co-leads alongside Gingrich. The project is also overseen by Pentagon technology chief Emil Michael and includes a team of experts from government, industry, academia, and policy circles. Notably, none of the three co-leads have military service backgrounds.

Musk’s SpaceX and Luckey’s Anduril are already significant players within the Pentagon’s ecosystem, holding multibillion-dollar defense contracts. SpaceX recently secured a $4.16 billion contract to build satellites for threat detection as well as a $2.29 billion contract for military satellite communications. Anduril, known for its autonomous weapons systems, received a $642 million contract in 2025 to supply counter-drone technology to the Marine Corps, reflecting the Pentagon’s broader focus on advancing autonomous warfare capabilities.

The establishment of Project Meridian coincides with the Pentagon’s announcement of a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command intended to expand the use of robotics and autonomous systems across the military. This strategic move signals a commitment to maintaining technological superiority on future battlefields, leveraging insights from industry leaders like Musk and Luckey to shape the development of next-generation military tools and tactics. Requests for comment from SpaceX, Anduril, Tesla, and Gingrich had not been returned at the time of the announcement.