US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has appointed Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich to lead Project Meridian.

Published on: Oct 1, 2026, 12:57:32 IST

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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has tapped SpaceX and AI executive Elon Musk, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to help lead a new Pentagon initiative examining how warfare could change in the coming decades.

The trio will work on Project Meridian, a new effort aimed at identifying technologies and weapons that the US military may need for future battlefields. Hegseth announced the initiative on September 30, saying it would bring outside innovators and technology leaders into a process traditionally led within the Pentagon.

“It is futuristic on purpose,” Hegseth said, stressing that the project is intended to forecast future conflicts rather than develop immediate military strategies or policies.

Who is Palmer Luckey?

Palmer Luckey is the founder of Anduril Industries, a defence technology company that develops autonomous systems, drones, surveillance technology and other military products.

Luckey founded Anduril in 2017 after selling Oculus VR, the virtual-reality company he founded, to Facebook, now Meta. Anduril has since become one of the prominent technology companies working with the US defense sector, particularly in areas involving artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and unmanned platforms.

Under Project Meridian, Luckey will be part of the group examining technologies that could shape future military operations.

Who is Newt Gingrich?

Newt Gingrich is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who served as speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999.

Gingrich has remained active in conservative politics and public policy since leaving Congress. He has also written extensively on national security, technology and future warfare.

Unlike Musk and Luckey, Gingrich does not lead a defense technology company. His inclusion gives the project a senior political and policy perspective alongside its technology-focused members.

What is Project Meridian?

Hegseth said Project Meridian will look decades ahead at emerging areas including artificial intelligence, autonomy, directed energy, robotics and biotechnology.

A September 30 Pentagon memo said rapid advances in these technologies could significantly change the nature of warfare. It directed Emil Michael, the undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering, to commission the project.

The initiative is expected to study future battlefields, identify weapons and technologies that military personnel could need and propose solutions for developing, testing and deploying those capabilities.

Hegseth said Musk, Luckey and Gingrich would work under Michael and would be joined by other technologists, innovators, business leaders, policymakers and national security experts.

The Pentagon has given the project a deadline of January 28, 2027, or 120 days after Hegseth's announcement, to produce its work.

The three men were present at the Pentagon for the announcement. Hegseth said their first Project Meridian meeting would take place immediately afterward in a sensitive, compartmented information facility.

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