Recently, on September 30, 2026, Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of War, during a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico, announced the establishment of the Autonomous Warfare Command, or “AutoWarCom”. Illustration by The Geostrata In a way, the announcement marked an institutional pivot in modern military affairs. By establishing a dedicated four-star command equipped with “service-like authorities", the U.S. Department of War is restructuring its forces to overcome modern military

$54 billion will be spent by the U.S. Department of Defense on autonomous warfare technology, even as it remains undecided as to what these technologies are really authorised to do. Rather, it is an operational gap being widened at the very time that speed and scale are wiping out the decision hierarchies of war. Illustration by The Geostrata With the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG) budget proposal for fiscal year 2026-27 and National Security Presidential Memorandum