Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks will formally announce the initiative Monday.
The ambitious effort, named Replicator, will be spearheaded by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. | Andrew Harnik/AP PhotoThe Pentagon is about to make a huge bet that it can field thousands of autonomous systems within two years — an attempt to use technological innovation to counter China’s much larger stockpile of traditional weapons.
“Industry is ready. The culture is ready to shift,” Hicks said. “We have to drive that from the top, and we need to give it a hard target.” Hicks declined to discuss what specific platforms might be produced under the program — such as aerial drones or unmanned ships — citing the “competition landscape” in the defense industry as well as concerns about tipping DOD’s hand to China. The Pentagon will instead “say more as we get to production on capabilities.”The Pentagon is pushing to counter threats posed by China in the Pacific amid concerns that Beijing may accrue the military might needed to invade Taiwan before the decade is out.
She said lessons from the Replicator program could be applied throughout the Pentagon, military services and combatant commands.
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