The Pentagon is moving to put autonomous warfare at the center of its military strategy, creating new commands and expanding drone operations as Huntsville’s defense industry continues to develop, manufacture and field the technology.

The latest announcements include plans for a new four-star-led Autonomous Warfare Command, the establishment of the Army’s Futures and Autonomous Systems Command and the designation of Fort Rucker in southeast Alabama as the Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Autonomy Center of Excellence.

The developments come as Huntsville companies are massively expanding drone manufacturing, developing autonomous weapons and delivering counter-drone systems to the military.

Speaking last week at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting in Washington, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the new Autonomous Warfare Command is intended to bring together unmanned capabilities across the military services.

“This Autowarcom is what’s going to create that multidomain, that domain synthesis that you need so that, from space to what we’re doing sub-sea in autonomy, is able to work together in a contested environment,” Hegseth said.

The command will grow out of Project Agincourt, a Pentagon initiative established last month to lay the groundwork for coordinating unmanned and autonomous warfare across the armed forces.

Hegseth said the department plans to field hundreds of thousands of one-way attack systems this year, with production potentially reaching millions in the coming years.

“We started with drone dominance almost the minute we got here; president put out an executive order,” Hegseth said. “We got $1 billion of funding on drone dominance, which we put straight into the hands of operators out into the field.”

Army establishes new command, expands Fort Rucker mission

The Army is also reorganizing its approach to autonomous technology.

Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle directed the establishment of the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, or FASCOM, in an Oct. 1 memorandum.

The Army announced Tuesday that its Futures and Concepts Command would be redesignated as FASCOM, bringing together organizations responsible for research, development, experimentation and modernization.

“This is our way to make sure that we take all of the great work that’s been happening with the resources that we have today, and we centralize it,” Telle said Wednesday.

The new command will help coordinate autonomous capabilities across Army formations, including aviation, armor, fires, logistics and other operations.

Meanwhile, Fort Rucker, the longtime home of Army Aviation, has been designated the Army’s UAS and Autonomy Center of Excellence.

The installation will help develop and test technologies that allow manned and unmanned aircraft to operate together, building on work already underway at the Army Aviation Center.

“Fort Rucker is unique in that we can bring together warfighting experts and cutting-edge commercial capabilities to test technology the way we intend to fight it,” said Gen. Christopher LaNeve, vice chief of staff and acting chief of staff of the Army.

The designation gives Alabama another significant role in the military’s expanding autonomous warfare efforts.

Huntsville’s growing drone industry

While the new Army command and Fort Rucker designation are separate developments, the Pentagon’s emphasis on autonomous warfare comes as Huntsville’s defense industry is already investing heavily in the technology.

Earlier this week, 256 Today reported that Huntsville-based Performance Drone Works is partnering with two Ukrainian companies to explore bringing battlefield-tested thermal imaging technology into American drone production.

The agreement follows a conditional federal loan commitment of up to $820 million to support PDW’s domestic manufacturing of drone, robotics and autonomous systems technology.

Huntsville’s counter-drone industry is also expanding.

On Tuesday, L3Harris announced it had begun delivering its Huntsville-produced VAMPIRE counter-drone systems to the Army, following an order worth up to $106 million.

The company established a dedicated VAMPIRE production facility in Huntsville earlier this year to increase manufacturing capacity.

Another Huntsville company, Invariant Corporation, recently demonstrated technology that places acoustic drone-detection sensors on an autonomous ground vehicle.

The system allows the vehicle to move into position while detecting, tracking and identifying unmanned aircraft.

In August, Quantum Systems opened a Huntsville office and announced plans to center its counter-UAS efforts in the city.

“We’re going to center all of our counter-UAS efforts here in Huntsville,” CEO Dave Sharpin told 256 Today at the opening.

The Pentagon’s earlier Drone Dominance Program also drew interest from North Alabama companies.

In February, three companies with Alabama ties were invited to compete in the program’s initial phase, including Madison-based Griffon Aerospace and Auterion Government Solutions, which maintains a major Huntsville office.

Redstone’s expanding counter-drone role

The military’s push toward autonomous warfare also comes as Redstone Arsenal continues to expand its role in responding to drone threats.

Earlier this month, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. visited the FBI’s counter-drone training operation at Redstone, where federal officials are preparing state and local law enforcement agencies to address unmanned aircraft threats.

“The FBI has a first-of-its-kind counter-drone school where we are bringing state and local law enforcement to the FBI to learn the technology that is involved in countering drone threats across our country,” Woodward, told 256 Today.

Huntsville is also supporting the Air Force’s efforts to improve its counter-drone capabilities.

A recently awarded Leidos contract includes engineering work in Huntsville for the Medusa Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft System of Systems, which integrates sensors and defensive technologies to detect and defeat small drones.

As drones and autonomous systems are becoming a bigger part of modern warfare, Alabama is already well into the assignment.

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