Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Oct. 14 called President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion national defense budget “absolutely critical,” warning of a potentially historic military buildup by China.
“We’ve got a near peer adversary who’s building a military, the most historic military buildup potentially in world history,” Hegseth said during a panel at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting in Washington.
“That’s not hyperbole, that’s just an objective truth.”
Hegseth said advances in autonomy, robotics, space, and artificial intelligence could widen the gap between countries leading in those technologies and those falling behind.
In written testimony submitted to Congress on May 12, Hegseth identified deterring Beijing in the Indo-Pacific as a major priority.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink directly addressed China’s expanding military capabilities during Wednesday’s panel, warning that advances in satellite surveillance could increasingly expose American military assets to detection and targeting.
Meink said autonomous systems could give U.S. forces greater flexibility by allowing commanders to send unmanned aircraft and other equipment into dangerous environments where deploying crewed platforms would be too risky.
Billions for Autonomous Warfare
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2027 budget request includes approximately $54.6 billion for its Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, compared with $225.9 million in fiscal 2026.
According to the Pentagon’s budget documents, $1 billion of the proposed amount would come through regular discretionary funding, while nearly $53.6 billion—approximately 98 percent—would depend on additional mandatory funding legislation.
The investment is intended to accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous weapons across the armed forces, including unmanned aircraft, robotic vehicles, and maritime systems.
During Wednesday’s discussion, Hegseth also raised concerns about Chinese components used in drones operating in Ukraine.
“We’ve learned a lot from Ukraine, but you can’t use everything that’s in Ukraine because of all the Chinese components involved in it,” he said.
The Pentagon must adapt lessons from Ukraine’s battlefield experience while developing systems that can be produced and deployed by American forces, Hegseth said.
Hegseth announced plans on Sept. 30 for a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command, with Project Agincourt intended to coordinate the development, acquisition, and deployment of autonomous systems across the military services.
The Army has separately moved to establish its Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, drawing together organizations responsible for military research, experimentation, and new operational capabilities. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle directed its establishment on Oct. 1, and the Army announced the move the following day.
Hegseth said the Pentagon wanted to expand from thousands of drones to hundreds of thousands and eventually millions.
He argued that producing unmanned weapons in large numbers would change the cost of warfare by forcing adversaries to devote more resources to defending against American capabilities.
Congressional Funding Remains Uncertain
The administration’s $1.5 trillion national defense request includes approximately $1.15 trillion in discretionary spending and another $350 billion proposed through budget reconciliation—a legislative process that allows qualifying measures to advance in the Senate with a simple majority. Of the total, $1.45 trillion is requested for the Pentagon, including $1.1 trillion in discretionary funding.
Hegseth said Wednesday that the administration would continue to seek through reconciliation at least $350 billion, potentially more, regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Congressional defense committees have considered the Pentagon’s $1 billion regular funding request for the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group separately from the additional $53.6 billion sought through reconciliation.
A Congressional Research Service report said the House-passed and Senate Armed Services Committee versions of the annual defense authorization bill included the requested $1 billion in discretionary funding.
The Senate committee’s proposal would also restrict certain funding until the Pentagon submitted previously mandated reports.
The larger $53.6 billion mandatory funding request remains dependent on separate congressional action.
Hegseth emphasized the importance of securing the additional funding in the coming months, and also warned that countries falling behind in military technologies could face an increasingly difficult competition.
“And so investments now are going to matter and they’re going to ripple not just for years, but for decades across our joint force,” he said.
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