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Secretary Hegseth and the Service Secretaries Discuss Autonomous Warfare at AUSA 2026, Oct. 14, 2026

October 14, 2026 · Department of War · 1:06:50

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What happened

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth took part in a leadership panel at the Association of the United States Army’s 2026 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington on October 14, 2026, published in full by the Department of War. He was joined by Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and Assistant Secretary of War for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Derrick Anderson, according to the department’s description of the panel.

The discussion took up the future of autonomous warfare: Hegseth discussed Project Agincourt and the future of autonomous warfare, the administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget, plans for millions of military drones and a new Autonomous Warfare Command, as DRM News summarized its full-panel coverage of the same session; protesters repeatedly interrupted the discussion, according to the same account. A Getty Images caption of the session likewise describes Hegseth participating in a discussion on the future of autonomous warfare at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on October 14.

Why it matters

The AUSA panel puts the department’s whole service leadership behind one technological bet at once — autonomous systems at scale, a dedicated Autonomous Warfare Command, and the budget proposed to pay for them — stated jointly by the Secretary and the service secretaries who would have to field it.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the autonomous-warfare program as stated on October 14, 2026 — Project Agincourt, a planned force of millions of military drones, and a new Autonomous Warfare Command. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of War, “Secretary Hegseth and DOW Leaders Speak at AUSA 2026,” October 14, 2026 (official upload, embedded above); DRM News, full-panel coverage of the same session, October 14, 2026; Getty Images caption, October 14, 2026. Details as stated by the participants and the cited coverage.