Pentagon Enlists Musk, Luckey and Gingrich for Meridian Project — CNBC
The US Pentagon has enlisted entrepreneur Elon Musk, Anduril defense technology company co-founder Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for the Meridian project. The initiative is intended to determine what types of weapons, technologies, and military capabilities US forces may need in future wars, CNBC reports.
Assessing Future Battlefields
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the initiative on September 30 during a State of the Force address to junior officers and service members at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. Meridian’s work will last 120 days and will focus on forecasting changes in the ways wars will be fought in the years and decades ahead.
According to Hegseth, the project does not involve developing new strategies or policies. Its task is to identify areas in which the United States needs to gain an advantage and the capabilities the military must master. The initiative will focus on finding, developing, and deploying systems and weapons for future combat operations — from underground space to space beyond the Moon.
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Leadership and Defense Contracts
The project will be led by the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, Emil Michael. Musk, Luckey, and Gingrich will serve as co-leads, while the broader team will include representatives of the public sector, industry, academia, and the policy community.
Musk’s SpaceX has substantial contracts with the Pentagon. In May, the US Space Force awarded the company a $4.16 billion contract to build satellites for tracking and targeting airborne threats, as well as a $2.29 billion contract for a military satellite communications network. Luckey’s Anduril develops autonomous weapons systems and other defense technologies; in 2025, the US Marine Corps awarded it a contract worth up to $642 million for counter-drone systems.
The Meridian announcement was part of the Pentagon’s broader course toward developing autonomous systems. On the same day, the department announced plans to establish a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command to scale robotic and autonomous systems across the US armed forces.
