Acting Secretary of the Army Adam R. Telle signed the memorandum following Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s September 30 State of the Force address. Hegseth announced an Autonomous Warfare Command and directed the military departments to build the organizations, acquisition approaches and career fields needed to accelerate autonomy.
“Secretary Hegseth made it clear: We are done with the bureaucratic inertia holding back modernization,” Telle said. “The Army is rapidly advancing to maintain our lethal edge.”
The new Army organization will be known as the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, or FASCOM. The service will integrate autonomous capabilities into at least six formation areas: aviation, armor, fires, sustainment, engineer and training formations.
“We are forging the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command to get cutting-edge technology into the hands of Soldiers, while prioritizing autonomy in our formations, our acquisitions, and our training to dominate the future of warfare,” Telle said. “This is about combat readiness to destroy the enemy and ensure our Army never enters a fair fight.”
The Army will designate a Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Autonomy. Priority capabilities include autonomous fires, combat vehicles, watercraft resupply, breaching, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition, together with collaborative teaming between crewed and uncrewed platforms.
The fiscal 2028 deadline applies to acquisition and fielding of those priority capabilities. The effort builds on the Capability Program Executive Office for Mission Autonomy, activated earlier this year to integrate autonomous technologies across multiple Army portfolios.
The directive expands authorizations for 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Specialists and 390A Robotics Technicians across applicable units. These changes are intended to place more trained autonomy professionals closer to tactical formations.
The memorandum aligns the Army’s organization, acquisition priorities and personnel requirements with Hegseth’s department-wide autonomy initiative. It addresses the equipment and expertise needed to integrate autonomous systems into operational formations.
