The U.S. Defense Department has launched a new advisory project to identify demand for technologies and weapons needed for future warfare. Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich will lead the project and are set to present capabilities the United States needs to secure a technological edge on future battlefields.

On Sept. 30, local time, several foreign media outlets including War Department and Engadget reported that the Pentagon plans to study future battlefields through "Project Meridian". It plans to identify weapons and technologies the military should use to maintain an advantage in that environment. It also plans to propose an action plan to develop, test and field them.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (피트 헤그세스) said in an appointment document that Project Meridian will "study the battlefields of the future and identify what weapons and technologies warfighters need to gain an advantage in these environments". He added that it will "propose actionable solutions for developing, testing and fielding these capabilities so that America secures the advantage in the 21st century and beyond".

The project will be jointly led by SpaceXAI CEO Elon Musk, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey (팔머 러키) and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (뉴트 깅리치), among others. None of the three has served in the U.S. military. SpaceXAI and Anduril have already signed business contracts with the Pentagon, and the related contracts total as much as $4.16 billion (about 5.65 trillion won).

Newt Gingrich does not have clear direct links to the tech industry, but has been involved in various military-related projects. Last year he received an honorary doctorate from Air University.

Project Meridian aims to go beyond a simple outlook for the future and present action plans that can lead to the development, testing and deployment of actual weapons and technologies. The Pentagon plans to use it to define early the capabilities needed on future battlefields and prepare to field related technologies. The Pentagon plans to complete the project within 120 days and release a public report and a classified annex.

The project launch came as controversies have continued over the Pentagon's use of technology and decision-making. This year, the Pentagon experienced an incident in which classified war plans were shared in a Signal chat room that included a reporter. Reports also said there was a case in which an AI-generated report was used for a military judgment and nearly led to an operation against Chinese ships.

There was also conflict surrounding Anthropic. The Pentagon designated Anthropic as a national security supply chain risk after the company kept in place some restrictions on the use of its artificial intelligence models, but a U.S. federal court ruled in August that the measure was illegal and groundless. In another appeals case, a ruling favorable to the Pentagon was issued in a separate case related to the designation, and the legal dispute is continuing.

Against this backdrop, scrutiny over conflicts of interest could also be raised as Musk and Luckey directly advise on future military technology demand. That is because companies they lead already have large business contracts with the Pentagon. The specific scope of the advisory work and how future results could affect actual defense procurement or new contracts have not yet been disclosed.

The key point to watch will be which technologies Project Meridian defines as core capabilities for future battlefields. If advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomy and robotics move into actual development, testing and fielding, it could affect the direction of U.S. defense technology procurement.

PROJECT MERIDIAN will study how we maintain the American advantage in the final frontier. The space domain shapes the outcome of every global operation, and the United States will continue to hold the ULTIMATE HIGH GROUND. pic.twitter.com/I7o2JFIseq