US Unveils ‘FORTRESS America’, Taps Musk to Help Map Future Warfare

The United States has announced plans to make major domestic military bases independent of the civilian power grid, rebuild critical defence supply chains at home and enlist Elon Musk in an assessment of future warfare.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth unveiled the measures as part of a broader effort to protect military operations against disruption while accelerating the development of autonomous and robotic capabilities.

The infrastructure initiative, called “FORTRESS America”, is intended to keep bases operational during cyberattacks, sabotage and other emergencies. Separately, “Project Meridian” will bring together Musk, defence entrepreneur Palmer Luckey and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich to examine how warfare could evolve.

Bases That Generate Their Own Power

FORTRESS stands for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability. Hegseth described it as a “national insurance policy for the American homeland”.

“Every major military installation in America is going to generate its own power. Independent of the civilian grid,” he said.

“If an adversary takes down the grid—by cyberattack, by sabotage, by any means—our bases stay lit. Our aircraft keep flying. Our command centers never go dark.”

The initiative also seeks to reduce dependence on foreign sources for materials essential to defence production.

“We are bringing our critical supply chains home. The rare earths, the specialty metals, the semiconductors, the propellants—mined in America, refined in America, built in America, by American workers,” Hegseth said.

Sean Parnell, Assistant to the Secretary of War, said the programme would build strategic reserves capable of sustaining operations through disruption. It would also focus on protecting satellites, communications spectrum and the military’s ability to navigate and coordinate.

Musk Joins 120-Day Warfare Review

Project Meridian will operate under the supervision of the department’s Chief Technology Officer, Emil Michael, Fox News reported.

Musk, Luckey and Gingrich will co-lead the advisory effort, which has been given 120 days to assess the trajectory of warfare, military domains and emerging technologies. Its work will culminate in a public presentation of broad findings and a classified annex for military leaders.

“The best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon. There are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them,” Hegseth said, according to Fox News.

He described the project’s scope as stretching “from under the Earth to beyond the moon”.

The panel will focus on identifying future capabilities and helping guide the discovery, development and deployment of military systems, rather than drafting new military strategies or policies.

Both Musk and Luckey already have substantial ties to US defence technology. SpaceX is a major Pentagon contractor, while Luckey’s Anduril Industries develops autonomous weapons and other military systems.

A New Command for Autonomous Warfare

Hegseth also announced the creation of the Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM, as part of the technology push.

The new four-star combatant command will have what he described as “service-like authorities” to expand autonomous and robotic capabilities across the armed forces, Fox News reported.

Dedicated occupational frameworks will establish career paths for personnel specialising in autonomous warfare.

“We should have been thinking about Autonomous Warfare Command ten years ago,” Hegseth said.

Religious Affairs Office to Report Directly to Hegseth

In a separate announcement, Hegseth established an Office of Religious Affairs with a direct reporting line to the secretary.

He said the office would protect budgets, seek infrastructure and strengthen religious support for military personnel, giving chaplains representation at the department’s highest levels.

“This won’t be a policy shop pushing paper. It will have real teeth,” he said.

With inputs from ANI