Elon Musk joins Pentagon's 120-day Project Meridian to map future warfare
The Defense Secretary announced that Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich will co-lead a 120-day study, Project Meridian, to identify emerging weapons and technologies for the U.S. military.
At a briefing on the Marine base at Quantico, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched Project Meridian, a 120-day effort to chart the technologies that will shape future wars. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, will co-direct the study alongside Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Their mandate is to pinpoint weapons, systems and capabilities the United States may require in the coming decades, including potential lunar conflicts.
Findings will be compiled into a publicly released report with a classified annex. The Pentagon highlighted rapid advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous platforms, directed-energy weapons and biotechnology as transformative forces. Musk’s role follows two multibillion-dollar Space Force contracts, while Luckey’s firm already holds major drone-countermeasure deals with the Marine Corps.
Why it matters
The study could shape U.S. defense spending and technology development for years to come.
How this story developed
- Sep 29 Pentagon to cut 20% of general and admiral billets in sweeping reform
- Sep 30 The reform will reclassify many senior billets instead of outright eliminating them.
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