In responses to questions from DefenseScoop this week, Pahon discussed Hicks’ plans and priorities for her final days helping steer the Defense Department’s major technology programs.

“Deputy Secretary Hicks’ priorities today remain the same as they have been since her first day in office: Foremost, in support of the secretary and president, she is maintaining her focus on ensuring that DOD can outpace strategic competitors like the [People’s Republic of China] by fielding more combat-credible capabilities at greater speed and scale, continually iterating on novel operational concepts, distributing and hardening our force posture, and leveraging our unparalleled ability to generate innovation with and through America’s private sector,” he said. 

“She is also maintaining a laser focus on financial accountability, strengthening the department’s institutional pillars, including by ensuring a smooth and professional transition, and taking care of the DOD workforce,” Pahon added. 

On Friday, Hicks is scheduled to speak at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies regarding lessons her team learned in their efforts associated with “strategic competition” and China, the spokesperson noted. 

Hicks was sworn in as the 35th deputy secretary of defense in February 2021. She is the first Senate-confirmed woman to serve in the role and is the highest-ranking woman to have served in DOD to date.

As the Pentagon’s No. 2, Hicks launched the high-stakes Replicator initiative to accelerate the delivery of next-generation warfighting technologies in repeatable processes — beginning with thousands of drones to be fielded by August 2025 to counter China’s growing military prowess. She also set up the recently-sunset Task Force Lima to explore generative AI in a responsible manner and account for the seen and unknown risks it presents within the U.S. national security arena.

Among other high-profile moves, Hicks also created the DOD’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in mid–2022 to investigate military-aligned reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

Pahon confirmed that “Hicks made initial contact with the president-elect’s DOD transition team lead on Dec. 13,” noting that she’ll “remain at OSD through the end of the Biden-Harris Administration at noon on Jan. 20.”

Last month, Trump nominated billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg to serve as deputy defense secretary in his new administration. If they are both confirmed, Feinberg would report to the president-elect’s pick for defense secretary, television presenter Pete Hegseth. 

“The deputy secretary conveyed the department’s commitment to conducting a smooth and professional transition with the incoming Trump administration,” Pahon said of Hicks.

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Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks shed new light on this work in a press release Wednesday. 

In it, she also spotlighted the various products tapped for rapid delivery in the second tranche of the unfolding Replicator initiative, which Hicks conceptualized to help counter China’s massive, ongoing military buildup by incentivizing speedy domestic manufacturing of in-demand military assets through replicable processes.

She noted Wednesday that, through Replicator and other autonomy-pushing efforts, the Pentagon is starting to harness these enablers or “resilient decision-making architectures for collaborative autonomy teaming” that can essentially synchronize up to thousands of uncrewed capabilities in a secure and shared environment. 

“These ‘integrated enablers’ are enhancing the ability of Replicator systems to operate and collaborate autonomously, and to remain resilient in the face of jamming and other countermeasures. The Department is acquiring many of these integrated software enablers using Commercial Solutions Openings led by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) that streamline and accelerate onramps for commercial industry,” Hicks wrote.

“Announcement of these awards is forthcoming,” the deputy confirmed.

In the release, Hicks also for the first time officially confirmed all of the unclassified systems tapped in the second Replicator tranche, deemed 1.2. 

As DefenseScoop previously reported, this tranche includes Anduril Industries’ quiet and modular Ghost-X aerial drones via the Army’s Company-Level Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems effort — and multiple vendors, including Anduril, that have and will be selected in partnership with the Air Force’s Enterprise Test Vehicle.

“In many ways, Anduril was founded specifically to achieve the stated goals of the Replicator initiative: to accelerate the development, production, acquisition, and employment of large numbers of affordable, attritable autonomous systems. Across our business, we are delivering transformative, software-defined solutions at speed to ensure that warfighters have the capabilities they need, when they need them,” an Anduril spokesperson told DefenseScoop on Wednesday.

Hicks said in her announcement that the Pentagon is also “scaling loitering munitions through fielding and expanded experimentation” of Anduril’s Altius-600, and separately the Performance Drone Works C-100 UAS. 

“Replicator 1.2 also includes additional systems that remain classified, including low-cost long-range strike capabilities and maritime uncrewed systems,” Hicks wrote.

DefenseScoop reported in August that Anduril’s Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicles were selected to be quickly mass-produced in the second Replicator tranche.

Since Replicator’s launch in August 2023, DOD leaders and officials involved have been expressly tight-lipped — frequently citing security concerns — about the ambitious plan and how it’s panning out. The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General recently revealed it is conducting a comprehensive assessment of Replicator.

In her latest announcement, Hicks again committed to fielding these drone swarms and associated systems by August 2025 — as originally envisioned.

More than 500 commercial firms were considered for Replicator hardware and software contracting and major subcontracting opportunities across the first and second tranches, she noted, and awards have so far been made to more than 30 hardware and software companies and more than 50 subcontractors.

“The Replicator initiative is demonstrably reducing barriers to innovation, and delivering capabilities to warfighters at a rapid pace,” Hicks wrote.

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The Pentagon’s No. 2 official shared that update among a list of achievements the Chief Digital and AI Office has helped accomplish over the last several years since its inception, during pre-recorded remarks that were aired to kick off the CDAO’s Responsible AI in Defense Forum in Reston, Virginia, on Tuesday.

“Since 2021, we’ve accelerated our drive toward a more modernized, data-driven, and AI-empowered U.S. military,” Hicks said. 

Broadly, the CDAO is hosting this invite-only workshop as a venue to enable dozens of Pentagon-supporting stakeholders to exchange ideas and plans for operationalizing RAI in defense. A range of practitioners, experts and scholars from government, industry, academia and other international participants — notably, from nations in the NATO alliance and Indo-Pacific region — are in attendance.

Some of the forum’s sessions focus on risks and opportunities presented by emerging and powerful generative AI and associated frontier models, the Defense Department’s approach to responsibly deploying autonomy and an RAI Toolkit demo. 

During her opening keynote, Hicks emphasized that the DOD does not use data and AI to censor, repress or disempower people.

Spotlighting some of its “wins” so far, she noted that the CDAO has “updated DOD responsible-use policies and directives, to keep pace with new tech and lead on trust and safety,” and also “issued new strategies, guidelines, guardrails, and practical toolkits and apps that turn our values into action.”

“We’re glad those resources are now used by many outside DOD — like other U.S. agencies, international allies and partners, and leading tech companies. We’re also glad that almost 60 nations now endorse, as we do, the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of AI and Autonomy,” Hicks said.

That framework, which ultimately seeks to build and foster an international consensus around responsible behavior and guide nations’ development and deployments of AI and autonomous capabilities for warfare, was launched in February 2023 at the Responsible AI in the Military Domain Summit in the Hague, Netherlands.

According to data from the WayBackMachine website, some of the latest nations to endorse the pledge since it was first adopted include Ukraine, Panama, Ethiopia, Israel and New Zealand. 

On the sidelines of the RAI Forum on Tuesday, the Australian Defence Department’s chief data integration officer, Paul Robards, told DefenseScoop that “signing up to that international, responsible AI and military blueprint is part of Australia’s commitment to building trust with our partners and allies.”

In his view, the partnership between the U.S. and Australian governments and militaries to collaboratively and responsibly enable joint and interoperable artificial intelligence capabilities continues to deepen — as further demonstrated by his attendance and speaking engagement on stage at the forum.

“This is across multiple fronts — and the AUKUS alliance is absolutely a part of that. But beyond that, we’re working together in so many ways and there’s a lot of opportunities ahead of us here with responsible AI,” Robards said.

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Sources who spoke to DefenseScoop on the condition of anonymity this week confirmed that the uncrewed system was put forward for Replicator 1.2 by the Army’s Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) program — and ultimately made the cut.

Replicator was largely conceptualized by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and her team, who first unveiled the initiative in August 2023.

Citing security concerns, Pentagon officials have been secretive about certain aspects of the pursuit as it all comes together. But broadly, it encompasses a multifaceted effort to deter China by incentivizing and expediting industrial production capacity and the military’s adoption of next-generation warfighting technologies en masse — through replicable processes.

Tranches within the first capability focus area — known as Replicator 1.0 — are pushing weapons and assets associated with what Hicks refers to as “all-domain attritable autonomous systems” (ADA2) to counter China’s anti-access/area-denial strategy, by August 2025. 

Replicator 2.0, reported first by DefenseScoop last month, will accelerate high-volume production of technologies designed to find and destroy enemy drones.

Although not everything is out in the open at this point, DefenseScoop has confirmed that the first two tranches of selections — Replicator 1.1 and 1.2 — include a mix of maritime and aerial drones and counter-drone capabilities that are being prioritized for accelerated production.

According to Anduril’s website, Ghost-X is an extended-range uncrewed aerial system that’s “designed to evolve after fielding, aligning to lessons learned from the hardware and software iteration required in contested environments like Ukraine and [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command].”

A company specification sheet states that Ghost-X deploys in minutes from a slim rifle case or tactical soft case during dismounted operations, and can be launched and recovered in confined landing zones. The drones have 80 to 90 minutes of cruise endurance, up to 15 miles operating range, capacity to carry payloads that are 25 pounds or less, and are weatherized for a range of harsh and austere environments. 

They are part of Anduril’s Ghost family of systems that its CEO Palmer Luckey said he originally created to counter China’s increasing pervasiveness across the global drone industry.

Via a press release last month, Anduril announced that Ghost-X was tapped for the Army’s Company Level Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) Directed Requirement, which is meant to rapidly field “commercial capability to Brigade Combat Teams to inform requirements, doctrine, tactics, training, and maintenance concepts for the Army’s Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) program.”

The company thanked the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit — one of the key organizations driving the execution of Replicator — in that release.  

In response to questions from DefenseScoop, Hicks’ public affairs advisor Eric Pahon said on Thursday: “We have no announcements to make at this time regarding Replicator 1.2 capability selections.” 

An Anduril spokesperson declined to comment or share details on Ghost-X pricing.

For fiscal 2024, Pentagon officials have secured about $500 million from Congress to fund early Replicator batches. Department leaders requested an additional $500 million to enable the project for fiscal 2025.

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The Office of Strategic Capital announced the notice of funding availability Monday, laying out eligibility criteria and an application process for industrial base companies interested in applying for a piece of the $984 million appropriated for loans. The investments could range from $10 million to $150 million, according to the notice, published in the Federal Register.

Specifically, the program is looking to invest in “the construction, expansion, or modernization of commercial equipment in the United States” that will in some way support the development of 31 critical technologies laid out in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The list of technologies includes autonomous mobile robots, cybersecurity, data fabric, a variety of microelectronics applications, mesh networks, quantum computing and more.

The notice explains that OSC “aims to build on successful examples of administering efficient, cost-effective financial tools to advance national security priorities. By aligning government and private sector incentives around technologies vital to national security and economic interests, DoD aims to use the power of the market and economic competition to attract the capital required for critical technology investment.”

“With this Notice of Funding Availability, OSC establishes itself as a credible lending partner for U.S.-based companies that manufacture and produce critical technology components,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in a prepared statement. “This demonstrates that DOD is dedicated to using every tool in our toolbox to secure America’s and our military’s enduring technological advantage.”

Summarizing the program’s eligibility and selection criteria, the notice says investment decisions will be based on “compliance with statute, the extent to which an investment supports U.S. national security or economic interests, the impact that direct loans would have on the project or transaction, and the creditworthiness of the investment, among other factors OSC will evaluate in the application process.”

Interested parties — which include individuals, companies, partnerships, trusts, governmental entities and more — are invited to submit the first part of the application for loans by Jan. 2, 2025. The Office of Strategic Capital will then invite select entities that prove eligibility and project or transaction suitability to submit a second application. Funding from the appropriations will remain available through Sept. 26, 2026.

The notice of funding availability marks the first time the Office of Strategic Capital has set out to issue private investments since its establishment in December 2022. Congress, in December 2023, officially enacted the office with the signing of the 2024 NDAA into law. Appropriators then gave OSC its first funding for loans this past March.

While a key function of the office is to support the commercialization and scaling of technologies that could benefit defense and national security, it is also strategically meant to deter innovative American companies from seeking capital that may support the work of the United States’ strategic competitors.

“Through these congressional authorities and appropriations, the DoD now has proven financial tools to enable millions of dollars of investment in national security priorities at limited cost to the Department and the taxpayer,” OSC Director Jason Rathje said Monday. “OSC’s implementation of its congressional mandate will ultimately increase both public and private investment to secure a robust and resilient U.S. industrial base.”

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This development marks the first public report of the second capability focus area under the Replicator initiative — a high-profile effort that underpins the Defense Department’s multifaceted plan to deter China.

According to a memorandum signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sept. 27 and viewed by DefenseScoop ahead of publication Monday, the Pentagon “will tackle the warfighter priority of countering the threat posed by small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) to our most critical installations and force concentrations” under Replicator 2.0.

“The expectation is that Replicator 2 will assist with overcoming challenges we face in the areas of production capacity, technology innovation, authorities, policies, open system architecture and system integration, and force structure,” Austin wrote in the memo.

Austin has directed Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher Grady to oversee the development of a Replicator 2.0 plan that will be proposed to Congress in the Pentagon’s budget request for fiscal 2026, according to the memo. 

The Defense Department aims to field the C-sUAS systems selected through Replicator 2.0 within two years after lawmakers approve their funding, the secretary wrote.

A defense official declined to provide details regarding what systems, specific capabilities or quantities will be included in the Replicator 2.0 plan. However, the official noted the Pentagon will focus on fielding C-sUAS systems at locations both within and outside the continental United States.

The department sees opportunities to work with state governments, local communities and interagency partners to “burn down risk regarding domestic authorities needed for safe and secure base protection,” the official told DefenseScoop. As for overseas locations, the Pentagon will work with allies and partners to ensure the protection of military bases and surrounding communities, they added.

Hicks first launched Replicator as a key military technology and procurement modernization effort in August 2023. 

At the time, she billed it as a strategic initiative to confront China’s massive, ongoing military buildup by incentivizing U.S. industrial production capacity and the Defense Department’s adoption of advanced warfare technologies en masse — through replicable processes — at a much faster pace than has been achieved before.

Tranches within the first capability focus area — Replicator 1.0 — broadly encompass the purchase and making of loitering munitions, and other technologies associated with what Hicks refers to as “all-domain attritable autonomous systems” (ADA2) to counter China’s anti-access/area-denial A2AD strategy by August 2025.

DefenseScoop has reported that the first two tranches of selections — dubbed Replicator 1.1 and 1.2 — include a variety of maritime and aerial drones and associated counter-drone assets selected for mass production.

Austin noted in the new memo that the Defense Department is “on track with the Initiative’s fielding plan for next summer,” adding that Replicator has “helped ignite our efforts to scale autonomous systems across the force more generally.”

Pentagon officials have secured roughly $500 million from Congress for fiscal 2024 to fund the first Replicator technology batches. The department has requested an additional $500 million for fiscal 2025.

Since Replicator’s inception, Hicks and other defense leaders have been expressly secretive about their full vision, select capabilities and concepts of operation that are foundational to realizing this effort, often citing security concerns.

Lawmakers, however, have also steadily questioned whether the department has allowed Congress and oversight bodies enough access to adequate information about the implementation of this initiative.  

The defense official emphasized that Austin’s memo for Replicator 2.0 serves as an endorsement of the broader initiative, as well as a reflection of his commitment to delivering counter-unmanned aerial vehicle systems for warfighters. 

“In marrying that commitment to the Replicator oversight and delivery model, the department will be well positioned to accelerate progress in this critical area,” the official said.

The forthcoming activities are envisioned to complement and advance “the significant C-sUAS work already underway in the Defense Department in delivering modular and mutually reinforcing solutions to sensing, AI-enabled decision support, and defeat capabilities appropriate to the range of environments in which those most critical installations and force concentrations operate,” the official added.

Doug Beck, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, will take the helm on Replicator 2.0 efforts in collaboration with Pentagon Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante, who also serves as the department’s C-sUAS principal staff assistant, according to the memo.

Austin wrote that work under Replicator 2.0 will leverage efforts by the Counter Uncrewed Systems Warfighter (C-UXS) Senior Integration Group, which was established in March to identify capability gaps and potential technology solutions for countering threats posed by UAS.

The defense official told DefenseScoop that this team has since “been the body responsible for executing ‘fight tonight’ solutions to combat this threat.”

“Lessons learned from the C-UXS Senior Integration Group’s work regarding the ongoing threat posed by unmanned systems will help inform solutions for the Replicator 2 effort,” the official explained.

The defense official further pointed to real-world evolving conflicts in multiple regions abroad that they said “demonstrate the warfighter need for increased focus on” drone-disrupting technologies.

“The secretary has made clear that countering uncrewed assets is one of his top priorities. As a result of the Ukraine war and engagements in the Middle East, the department has learned a lot about the dynamic pace of the threat and the accelerated pace of emerging sUAS technology — all of which informed leadership’s thinking on where to focus Replicator 2,” they told DefenseScoop.

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Multiple sources who spoke to DefenseScoop on the condition of anonymity indicated that the selected drones are those under development for the Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) program — an effort being run by the Air Force’s Armament Directorate in collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit aimed at designing and fielding an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of mass-production at low cost and high volume.

The Air Force and DIU referred questions specific to the ETV program’s relation to Replicator to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

“We have nothing to announce or confirm regarding Replicator tranche two selections at this time,” Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn told DefenseScoop in an email Thursday evening.

Spearheaded by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, Replicator looks to respond to China’s ongoing military buildup in the Indo-Pacific by fielding thousands of “attritable autonomous” systems across warfighting domains no later than August 2025. The Pentagon plans to choose technologies for the program in continuous tranches, selecting more proven capabilities in early batches before considering emerging capabilities down the line.

While Replicator is considered a top modernization effort, Hicks and other leaders across the Pentagon have kept many details about specific systems and other aspects of the project behind closed doors. DefenseScoop previously reported that the first tranche of selections — known as Replicator 1.1 — included Switchblade loitering munitions, counter-drone assets and a range of unmanned surface vehicles.

In August, Hicks confirmed that all three military departments were working with the Defense Innovation Unit on narrowing down systems for the follow-on Replicator 1.2. Shortly after, DefenseScoop reported that Anduril’s Dive-LD underwater drone — a Navy program — would be included in the effort’s second tranche.

DIU announced in June that Anduril, Integrated Solutions for Systems, Leidos Dynetics and Zone 5 Technologies are currently developing prototypes for the ETV program, which is being run in collaboration with the Air Force’s Armament Directorate.

The ETV prototypes will leverage commercial and dual-use technologies to better understand how the Pentagon can quickly produce and field drones in the future. Companies are expected to keep their prototypes affordable with commercial off-the-shelf parts, as well as utilize open systems architecture approaches to enable upgrades and subsystem integration. 

Under the contract, the four companies are expected to develop UAV prototypes and conduct flight demonstrations by the end of 2024, after which DIU will down-select to one or more systems for continued development.

The original solicitation for the program published in 2023 noted that prototypes should have a range of at least 500 nautical miles; a minimum cruise speed of 100 knots; be capable of delivering a kinetic payload; and be able to demonstrate an air-delivered variant — such as being launched from the back of a cargo aircraft, for example.

A spokesperson for DIU confirmed to DefenseScoop that three of the four vendors are scheduled to conduct test flights for their ETV prototypes no later than September 2024. The fourth company will fly by the end of November 2024, they added.

Results from the test flights will inform decisions about the number of contractors DIU will be able to work with on the program after demonstrations, as well as what activities will be included in ETV’s continued development, the spokesperson said.

Brandi Vincent contributed to this report.

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This news marks the first public report of technologies that made the Defense Department’s cut for Replicator 1.2 — and it also follows the company’s recently revealed plans to launch a new factory in Rhode Island to speed-up the manufacturing of these advanced uncrewed platforms.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks unveiled the Replicator initiative one year ago as a strategic effort to deter China by incentivizing and accelerating industrial production capacity and the military’s adoption of attritable, autonomous systems in multiple combat domains — through replicable processes — by mid-2025.

Hicks has been frank about DOD leaders’ aims to be deliberately tight-lipped and secretive about certain aspects of the project as it comes into fruition. Ahead of the Pentagon’s official announcement, DefenseScoop reported in April that the first tranche of capability selections to be expedited through this initial pursuit — referred to as Replicator 1.1 — included loitering munitions, counter-drone assets, and multiple types of unmanned surface vessels.

Hicks mentioned during a conference keynote last week that the Defense Innovation Unit and all three military departments are “working on a second tranche of [all-domain attritable autonomy, or ADA2] systems together.”

Sources who spoke to DefenseScoop on the condition of anonymity this week confirmed that Anduril’s Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicles were put forward for Replicator by the Navy’s program office for advanced undersea systems — PMS 394 — and ultimately selected alongside several other technologies for the second tranche.

According to Anduril’s website, “the 3-ton Dive-LD is able to autonomously conduct missions for up to 10 days with an architecture that scales for multi-week missions,” and it’s “ideal for a variety of missions such as undersea battlespace intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine counter-warfare, anti-submarine warfare, seafloor mapping and more.”

The platforms have a 3D-printed exterior and are equipped to conduct missions at up to 6,000 meters of ocean depth.

One source told DefenseScoop that the Dive-LD systems cost about $2.5 million each.

“We have nothing to announce or confirm regarding Replicator 1, tranche 2 selections,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told DefenseScoop in an email Wednesday.

An Anduril spokesperson declined to comment on the Replicator initiative. The Navy has not yet provided comment.

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The Defense Department’s No. 2 official first unveiled Replicator about a year ago, then billing it as a strategic pursuit to address China’s massive, ongoing military buildup. The overarching vision is to accelerate industrial production and DOD’s adoption of such systems in multiple combat domains — through replicable processes — by mid-2025.

During NDIA’s Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition on Wednesday, Hicks provided the latest update on the high-stakes modernization effort.

“Although we have lots more work to do, we are on track to meet Replicator’s original goal of enabling ‘multiple thousands in multiple domains in 18-24 months’ — that is, by the end of August 2025. In so doing, Replicator is demonstrating from the top and across the enterprise how to deliver all kinds of capability at speed and scale,” she said in her keynote.

Some U.S. military units have already completed new equipment training with the first Replicator systems to be delivered, though Hicks did not share any details about what assets or units are involved.

“And we’re already looking beyond ADA2 systems to identify Replicator’s second capability focus area,” she added, confirming the Pentagon’s intent to “replicate” the process in future technology deployments following momentum from the initial pick of drone-related capabilities.

Senior officials have completed “nearly 40 Hill briefings since last October, averaging almost one a week — on an initiative that represents 0.059 percent of DOD’s budget,” Hicks also noted. So far, more than 550 hardware and software companies have sent submissions for Replicator-related opportunities.

She additionally suggested that like-minded allies and partners are inquiring about co-producing systems being accelerated by Replicator — such as the Switchblade 600 kamikaze drone, which is made by AeroVironment.

According to her team’s assessment, in this initiative to date, what can take seven-to-ten years for similar-size capabilities to be implemented in the DOD has been accomplished in under 12 months.

“And that should be truly mind-blowing,” Hicks said.

At the conference, she also shared an “innovation fact sheet” spotlighting the Pentagon’s recent accomplishments with Replicator and other high-tech initiatives.

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The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General issued a memorandum Monday to multiple military and civilian components solidifying its official plans for the new review.

“During the evaluation, our focus will be to determine the effectiveness with which the Services and Defense Innovation Unit selected capabilities for the Replicator Initiative to meet the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s operational needs,” an OIG spokesperson told DefenseScoop in an email shortly after the memo’s release.

“It was a self-generated project, based on our ongoing analysis of DOD operations and programs,” the spokesperson said.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks first launched Replicator late last summer, billing it as a strategic move to confront China’s massive, ongoing military buildup by accelerating the adoption of “attritable autonomous systems” in multiple combat domains — through replicable processes — within 18 to 24 months.

DOD leadership and insiders have been expressly tight-lipped about the ambitious effort since its inception, frequently citing security concerns. But so far, Pentagon officials have secured roughly $500 million from Congress for fiscal 2024 to move forward with tranche one, and they are requesting an additional $500 million for fiscal 2025.

In April, DefenseScoop reported that the department’s first tranche choices for Replicator systems include kamikaze drones, unmanned surface vessels and counter-drone systems.

Although the initial aim of the OIG’s evaluation is to “determine the effectiveness” with which the services and DIU picked capabilities that can meet the demands of Indo-Pacom’s operational needs, the memo states that the watchdog may revise or expand the objective of this Replicator assessment as officials proceed.

“As with all Inspector General reviews, we intend to cooperate fully and with expediency to support the Office of the Inspector General’s important work to ensure full accountability for the American taxpayer,” Pentagon spokesman and Hick’s public affairs advisor Eric Pahon told DefenseScoop in an email Monday.

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