When Caudle takes the helm, he will be the first Senate-confirmed CNO since Trump fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti from that post in February without explanation. Adm. James Kilby, the Navy’s vice chief, has been serving as acting CNO since Franchetti was removed.

Caudle told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing last week that he approves of Franchetti’s CNO Navigation Plan, or strategic vision, that was released last year. That plan included Project 33, an effort to accelerate the acquisition and fielding of unmanned systems, AI and “information dominance” capabilities to deter or defeat a Chinese attack on Taiwan or other U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Caudle told lawmakers that his top priorities for Navy transformation, if confirmed, would be to invest in platforms, sensors and weapons systems that are “modular, scalable and built for rapid upgrade cycles” to stay ahead of emerging threats; boost sailors and warfighters through advanced training, leadership development and talent management; and “accelerate delivery of integrated, networked capabilities across the joint force, including unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and resilient C3 architectures to enable decision advantage and operational dominance in contested environments.”

Adopting cutting-edge tech such as AI, uncrewed platforms, cyber tools and data-driven decision-making could enable the Navy to “outpace adversaries by leveraging faster learning curves and feedback loops from the assessment of existing combat operations,” he wrote in response to senators’ advance policy questions ahead of this confirmation hearing.

Caudle suggested a more aggressive push to adopt robotic platforms might be needed if Navy shipbuilding programs face further budget constraints or cost growth problems.

“Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS), also referred to as Unmanned Systems, are a force multiplier already being employed across a wide range of missions. Prioritizing the integration of RAS at scale, as appropriate, into naval and joint force architecture would be a necessary step [to deal with further fiscal constraints]. Additionally, we could potentially expand and accelerate current RAS systems further across the fleet, in all cases focusing on affordability, training, and interoperability with manned platforms,” he wrote.

The nomination of Caudle — a four-star who has been serving as commander of Fleet Forces Command — for the CNO role wasn’t a controversial pick.

Caudle’s confirmation was approved by voice vote, along with a slew of other military nominations, as the Senate nears its August recess.

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The memo “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance,” addressed to senior Pentagon leadership, combatant commanders and directors of defense agencies, referred to uncrewed systems as “the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation.”

“Our adversaries collectively produce millions of cheap drones each year. While global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape. U.S. units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires,” Hegseth wrote.

The directive calls for approving “hundreds” of American products for purchase by the U.S. military, arming combat units with a variety of “low-cost drones made by America’s world-leading engineers and AI experts,” and more widely integrating UAS into training exercises.

Here are some key deadlines that the SecDef laid out for Pentagon leaders:

• No later than Sept. 1, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force must establish “deliberately screened, active-duty experimental formations purpose-built to enable rapid scaling of small UAS across the Joint Force by 2026, prioritizing initial fielding to U.S. lndo-Pacific Command units,” per the memo. “Within 30 days, the Office of Strategic Capital and Department of Government Efficiency will present options, including advance purchase commitments, direct loans, or other incentives … that accelerate the growth of the U.S. industrial base to outfit our combat units with cheap and effective U.S.-made UAS. To maximize these investments, each Military Service will establish, resource, and empower unsubordinated program offices solely focused on UAS, with an immediate priority towards small UAS. These program offices will compete to determine best practices in rapid acquisition and industry engagement with operational units. Drone dominance is a process race as much as a technological race. Major purchases shall favor U.S. companies, informed by Blue List ratings and strategic guidance.”
• By Jan. 1, 2026, responsibility for publication and maintenance of the Blue List of DOD-approved unmanned aerial systems, components and software will be transferred from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to the Defense Contract Management Agency. “The Blue List will become a digital platform that will continuously update an aggregate list of all certified U AS parts and systems, those with follow-up requirements, the latest user ratings, and all vendors approved to certify UAS parts and systems for the Blue List. The DCMA and the DIU will inform and align vendors on evolving Blue List expectations and develop a ratings system to identify best-in-class systems across the Joint Force. The Blue List will be dynamic, retaining all previous component and supply chain findings, and including updated performance evaluations from testing and key lessons learned from training. The Blue List will be searchable using artificial intelligence tools,” according to the memo.
• Within 60 days, the secretaries of the military department have been tasked to identify programs that would be more cost-effective or “lethal” if replaced by drones.
• Within 90 days, the secretaries of the military departments, in consultation with the Pentagon’s research and engineering directorate, have to jointly designate “at least three national ranges, with diverse terrain (including at least one with over-water areas) for deep UAS training, with low/no inter-service cost transfer,” per the memo, which noted that units operating UAS will “access DoD grounds with abundant airspace and spectrum allocation.”
• Next year, Hegseth said he expects to see UAS capabilities integrated into “all relevant combat training, including force-on-force drone wars.” And by 2027, all major training events across the Department must integrate drones.
• By the end of 2026, “every squad” is to be equipped with “low-cost, expendable drones,” with priority going to Indo-Pacific combat units.

“Our adversaries have a head start in small UAS, but we will perform a technological leapfrog and establish small UAS domain dominance by the end of 2027. We will accomplish this urgent goal by combining the Nation’s best qualities, including risk-taking. Senior officers must set the tone. Accelerating this critical battlefield technology requires a Department of War culture,” Hegseth wrote.

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Via its commercial solutions opening contracting mechanism, DIU is trying to find solutions that meet the U.S. military’s need for undersea kamikaze drones and UUVs that can be launched from submarines.

To address the first challenge, the organization is looking for hunter-killer systems that can be deployed from a government-provided platform or pier.

“The host vessels can either be surface or housed subsurface and most likely be uncrewed. The vehicle must be able to deliver a payload with the speed and endurance necessary to hone in and interdict a static or moving target,” per the solicitation for low-cost “undersea effectors.”

The Defense Department is aiming to acquire systems that are about 12.75 inches in diameter, 120 inches in length, and less than or equal to 800 pounds while equipped with government-furnished payloads.

To address the second challenge, DIU is also on the hunt for UUVs that can be launched and recovered via a torpedo tube without the need for drivers.

“The Vehicle should operate for at least 2 days and/or 120 nautical miles while operating with a payload,” officials wrote. “The proposed UUV should be able to support multiple communication pathways to the host submarine. Tethered options will be considered. Accurate long-range navigation systems limiting the need for GPS, transponders, or bottom lock is preferred.”

The system must not be more than 21 inches in diameter and 256 inches in length, according to the solicitation.

DIU noted that the DOD has a critical need for “affordable small and medium” UUVs that can perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and expeditionary missions.

“Current and legacy systems are designed to be multi-mission, exquisite systems requiring long production timelines, significant training, reconfiguration prior to mission, and technical experts to process data. However, there are situations where a single use, mission specific UUV can be more desirable to the end user in the kinetic, ISR, and expeditionary domains,” officials wrote.

DIU has played a major role in the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative, which aims to add thousands of low-cost uncrewed systems and counter-drone platforms to the U.S. military’s arsenal. The solicitation released Wednesday didn’t explicitly say whether it was tied to Replicator efforts, but it appears to be focused on those types of technologies.

Industry responses to the solicitation are due July 24.

The DOD is looking to award other transaction agreements.

“Companies are advised that any prototype OT agreement awarded in response to this [effort] … may result in the award of a follow-on production contract or transaction without the use of further competitive procedures. The follow-on production contract or transaction will be available for use by one or more organizations in the Department of Defense and, as a result, the magnitude of the follow-on production contract or agreement could be significantly larger than that of the prototype OT,” officials wrote.

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Detailed budget materials are being released on a rolling basis this week, but the officials provided insights into the nearly $1 trillion spending plan in an off-camera press briefing Thursday morning.

“This budget is the first year that we are calling out — specifically — our autonomy line in its own section. So, it will be $13.4 billion for autonomy and autonomous systems,” a senior defense official told DefenseScoop. 

“For counter [unmanned aerial systems], the total request is $3.1 billion across the services,” they also confirmed. 

The new requests for additional drone and counter-drone funding come as the U.S. military confronts serious challenges integrating and defending against the rapidly evolving weapons, which often cost much less to produce than the multimilllion-dollar missiles that have been deployed to take them down.

The senior defense official supplied a high-level breakdown on the robotics and autonomy-enabling budget lines.

“For unmanned and remotely-operated aerial vehicles, it’s $9.4 billion; autonomous ground vehicles, $210 million; on the water autonomous systems, $1.7 billion; underwater capabilities, $734 million; and enabling capabilities — that’s the autonomy software, the things that underlie all these systems, working and operating together as a central brain — it’s $1.2 billion to work across all those platforms on autonomy,” they said.

A senior Navy official at the briefing also pointed to what they consider to be a “big increase” associated with autonomy investments for the sea service.

“[It’s] $5.3 billion across all systems. And that’s $2.2 billion above FY 2025. That includes procuring three MQ-25s, which we’ll have our first flight in 2026 — and then additional unmanned air [assets], new efforts in unmanned undersea and in unmanned surface, to include procuring our medium unmanned surface vessel. So, we have a lot of efforts across all domains,” the senior Navy official told DefenseScoop.

Two aircraft carrier strike groups operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility are “engaged in combat every day” against enemy-launched drones, they noted.

“We have the [USS Gerald R. Ford] that is just now deploying. Ford will deploy with some additional counter-UAS capabilities, and then we’ll continue to look and learn and develop those kits that we sent before, and [applying] part of what we’re learning,” the senior Navy official said.

Representatives from the other military services did not share information about their departments’ autonomy toplines during the briefing.

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Smith was removed from that position “due to a loss of confidence based on a complaint substantiated by an Office of the Naval Inspector General investigation,” officials wrote in a press release, adding that the sea service “maintains the highest standards for leaders and holds them accountable when those standards are not met.”

The release did not provide details about the nature of the complaint that was made against Smith and substantiated by the IG. DefenseScoop has reached out to the Navy for more information.

According to the announcement, Smith was removed from his position as PEO by Brett Seidle, acting assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition. Melissa Kirkendall, executive director for PEO USC, has temporarily assumed the duties of program executive officer. Smith has been temporarily reassigned to the staff of Naval Sea Systems Command.

The PEO for unmanned and small combatants plays a key role in the Navy’s pursuit of robotic platforms, including uncrewed surface vessels and unmanned underwater vehicles, which are key to the service’s push to increase the capacity of the fleet for a variety of mission sets and keep sailors out of harm’s way. The official who holds that position is the acquisition authority for the “design, development, build, maintenance and modernization of unmanned maritime systems, mine warfare systems, special warfare systems, expeditionary warfare systems and small surface combatants,” according to the Navy.

Smith had served in the PEO USC role since June 2023.

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The Marine Corps — which is part of the Department of the Navy — has a requirement for “multi-purpose” UGVs, Lt. Col. Scott Humr, deputy director for intelligent robotics and autonomous systems (IRAS) at the Capabilities Development Directorate, noted during a presentation at the Modern Day Marine conference last month.

“I think those are going to be very critical for logistics, for sensing, for communications, ISR, etc.,” he said, using an acronym that stands for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The request for quotes released Wednesday appears to be geared toward laying the groundwork for that type of capability.

“The Government is seeking to acquire services for the development of an open-source
architecture for Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) systems equipped with advanced
sensor fusion and control algorithms to allow for modularity with different sensors and
payloads,” officials wrote.

Contract items for the solicitation include those types of algorithms as well as their integration onto small and medium-sized surrogate UGVs for testing.

The Defense Department intends to award a firm fixed price contract, with an anticipated period of performance from date of award to Dec. 31, 2027. The estimated award date is June 1, according to the solicitation.

“We are pursuing a requirement for a multi-purpose unmanned ground vehicle to provide capability across the [Marine Air-Ground Task Force],” Humr told members of industry at the Modern Day Marine conference. “We see this as important piece of how we envision robots working with robots. We have many pieces of the puzzle, as it were, but we need other enablers within that system to eliminate the Marine from doing the drudgery work and putting them where we need them the most. And so most of all, really, what we want is technologies to free Marines to fight.”

In today’s defense tech ecosystem, software is even more critical than hardware, he noted.

“Modern platforms, whether UGVs, [unmanned surface vessels], aircraft, or autonomous systems in general, are increasingly software-driven with upgrades, mission configurations and even survivability enhancements … coming from lines of code. They aren’t coming from physically redesigning the systems. So in an era where threats evolve daily, it’s the agility and intelligence of our software that turns the steel and silicone into decisive, lethal assets. So what do we need from industry? We need open standards, modular design, cybersecurity baked in from the beginning, from design and rapid prototyping, so we can get capabilities in the hands of Marines faster,” Humr said.

Systems need to be built from the get-go to collect, process and share data, he suggested.

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific is involved in the architecture effort that the new solicitation is for, according to the request for quotes.

Unmanned platforms are seen by military officials as tools that can perform a variety of missions and help keep troops out of harm’s way as much as possible.

“The idea that Marines must be the first to make contact with the enemy is increasingly becoming outdated and precarious. However, as Marines, we will always pride ourselves on taking risks and be ready to put ourselves in danger when the time calls, but now we can do it through the sequencing of first using robots … in our echelon of forces,” Humr said.

For the multi-purpose UGV, the Corps needs a platform that “can do a lot of things” but “not to try to do everything really well,” he noted.

“We know that [when] we get into the point of trying to make one system that does everything well, we end up with some Frankenstein that does nothing well. And so I think a very basic system is kind of where we want to start. They already exist,” he said.

Humr suggested the Corps was still contemplating its acquisition strategy for the multi-purpose UGV platforms.

“We don’t know exactly what strategy we will approach, but I think we want to approach it with the most maximum amount of flexibility. We know that we can’t buy [or] order 1,000 of these machines and think that they’re going to be the solution. I see us buying … in small increments, testing, getting feedback and improving those on version 1.2, 2.0., etc.,” he said.

“We need to develop the requirement a little bit more and ensure that we get it out there quickly, and make sure we have the funding to support that as well,” Humr said. “I think we’ll get there. I think there’s a lot of energy and a lot of interest in it now. We’ve seen some of the autonomy that’s on some of these systems now.”

He noted that organizations working with Defense Department tech hubs like DARPA, have been demonstrating AI technologies that could be integrated onto vehicles.

“They’re taking that autonomy and putting it on their systems, multiple different systems, in fact. And so, I see that’s where we’re going to be able to make the most money and real quickly buy what’s already there, and taking the best of breed from what industry [and] our labs are doing,” Humr said.

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In an April 30 memo to the secretary of the Army, Hegseth ordered a vast set of alterations to the service aimed at building a leaner and more lethal force that prioritizes defending the homeland and deterring China in the Indo-Pacific.

The administration has made homeland defense — to include securing the southern border and building the “Golden Dome” missile defense system — as well as deterring China, top priorities. The latter includes shifting resources to the Pacific at the potential expense of other theaters, according to press reports. 

Some of the changes pushed by Hegseth in his directive — such as consolidated budget lines in unmanned systems, counter-drone systems and electronic warfare, force structure changes and expanded use of other transaction agreements — are already being pursued.

The memo, however, directs much deeper change to include consolidating certain headquarters elements and changes to how the Army contracts, some of which were reported earlier this week by Breaking Defense.

“[T]he Army must prioritize investments in accordance with the Administration’s strategy, ensuring existing resources are prioritized to improve long-range precision fires, air and missile defense including through the Golden Dome for America, cyber, electronic warfare, and counter-space capabilities,” Hegseth wrote. “I am directing the Secretary of the Army to implement a comprehensive transformation strategy, streamline its force structure, eliminate wasteful spending, reform the acquisition process, modernize inefficient defense contracts, and overcome parochial interests to rebuild our Army, restore the warrior ethos, and reestablish deterrence.”

Among some of the biggest changes, the memo directs the secretary of the Army to downsize or close redundant headquarters. That includes merging Army Futures Command — responsible for developing requirements and experimentation for future capabilities — and Training and Doctrine Command, both four-star organizations, and merging four-star headquarters Forces Command with Army North and Army South into a single headquarters focused on homeland defense.

It also calls for restructuring the Army’s sustainment organizations to realign elements within the four-star Army Materiel Command including the integration of Joint Munitions Command and Army Sustainment Command to optimize operational efficiency.

Other force structure changes Hegseth called for include merging headquarters of organizations to generate combat power capable of synchronizing kinetic and non-kinetic effects, spaced-based capabilities and unmanned systems, reducing and restructuring manned attack helicopter formations, and augmenting the force with drone swarms and divesting of “outdated” formations, such as select armor and aviation units across the total Army, though those select units were not named in the directive.

Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told reporters later Thursday that the Army is converting some armor brigade combat teams in the National Guard to mobile brigade combat teams, which he said will make them much more nimble for the missions that they need to do, whether it’s stateside or abroad.

Some initiatives require fielding certain capabilities or meeting other objectives by a set time — mostly either by 2026 or 2027 — such as achieving “electromagnetic and air-littoral dominance by 2027.”

The Army must field unmanned systems and ground- and air-launched effects in every division and extend advanced manufacturing such as 3D printing to operational units by 2026. The service must also improve counter-drone systems and integrate capabilities into platoons by 2026 and companies by 2027, and enable AI-driven command and control at theater, corps and division headquarters by 2027, according to Hegseth.

On the procurement side, the memo directs ending procurement of obsolete systems as well as canceling or scaling back ineffective or redundant programs such as manned aircraft, excess ground and outdated drones, eliminating “wasteful” contracts and “excess” travel funding and expanding multi-year procurement agreements when it’s cost-effective.

“What we’ve learned in the last couple of years in the conflict in Ukraine is that the old way of doing war will no longer suffice,” Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said Thursday morning in an appearance on Fox and Friends alongside George.

“Under the leadership for President Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth, they basically have empowered the United States Army to go make the hard decisions and the hard changes to reallocate our dollars to best position our soldiers to be the most lethal that they can be,” Driscoll said. “These are hard decisions. These are legacy systems that have been around for a long time. There’s a lot of momentum. There’s a lot of lobbyists around them. but with the leadership of those gentlemen and our chain of command, we have been empowered to go do what’s right.”

George noted that there isn’t necessarily a problem with innovation as soldiers have been innovating the last few years, particularly under one of his keystone efforts dubbed transforming-in-contact since early 2024. The initiative aims to speed up how the Army buys capabilities and designs its forces by injecting emerging capabilities into units and letting them experiment with them during exercises and deployments.

Three brigades transformed into either mobile or light brigade combat teams over the last year as part of transformating-in-contact 1.0. Now, the service is pushing the initiative to the next level and focusing on armor formations and divisions as a whole, to include enabling units, National Guard units and multi-domain task forces, as well as technologies such as autonomy.

“We don’t have a challenge with the innovation. The innovation’s happening down with our soldiers. We’re changing formations right now,” George said alongside Driscoll. “We had an exercise [where] we had more than 200 drones in a brigade combat team. We’re watching what’s happening. We know we need to change and … we just can’t go fast enough, we got to speed that change.”

George was referencing the last transforming-in-contact brigade, 3^rd Brigade, 10^th Mountain Division’s culminating exercise in January where they used more drones than had ever previously been used.

Regarding the change to formations, the Army’s number two officer last week said the service is planning to approve force design updates on what those mobile and light brigades will look like going forward based on the transforming-in-contact effort. Those changes are expected to be made soon and released in October.

Officials have stressed more experimentation is to come as they don’t necessarily know the right mix of certain capabilities such as drones at echelon. More experimentation is needed to better understand what forces might need in the future.

This story has been updated with comments from Chief of Staff Randy George regarding armored units being converted.

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Special operations forces are expected to be part of the Corps’ so-called stand-in force operating inside adversaries’ weapons engagement zones. In that sense, the fight might not be that different than World War II. However, new technologies are creating new challenges and opportunities, suggested Maj. Gen. Peter Huntley, commander of MARSOC.

“Everything’s the same but everything’s changing, right? So, you know, the characteristics … that are going to be in the fight at the tactical edge, it’s going to be very similar to what, you know, our grandfathers saw right in the Pacific campaign. It’s going to be freaking rough and nasty and all that stuff like that. So the direct fire engagements are going to be the direct fire engagements. However, in a tactical situation, your ability to sense that tactical opponent is going to be a lot more complex — whether it’s small [unmanned aerial systems], whether it’s … better vision, whether it’s a small tactical unit being able to have an operational impact because they can sense something because of increased technology, and they’re going to be able to push that information back into a bigger joint force at the operational level,” he told DefenseScoop during a meeting with reporters at the Modern Day Marine conference.

Raiders’ roles won’t just be to shoot and kill the enemy, officials have emphasized. They’ll also be expected to enable joint fires and maneuver, maritime domain sensing, “multi-domain effects,” special reconnaissance, and multi-discipline intelligence fusion.

Huntley envisions AI capabilities lending a helping hand for those types of SOF missions.

“For us, I see the biggest place is the aggregation of data, right? The automation … of the intelligence cycle and how to be at the cutting edge of that. Because that’s going to … drive the speed of your [observation, decision-making and action] loop,” he said. “If you’re a slow adapter on that front, you’re going to find yourself on the wrong side of that equation, and that’s not a good place to be, right? So for us to be able to be a small accelerator, if you will, for the stand-in force, to be able to illuminate, be able to aggregate that data, and be able to push that data, that’s where I see AI — as it comes on and becomes more prominent — that’s where I see that having the most profound impact.”

MARSOC is also adding small drones to its arsenal. Huntley said SOF is on the cusp of a “breakthrough” in that area, thanks in part to investments in the technology made by larger components of the Defense Department.

“In terms of loitering munitions, we have our initial capability now. I’ll leave it at that for now. But we have that capability now, it’s layered into the force. For small UAS, yes, we have a capability. However, we’re getting ready to make a breakthrough here … Where it’s going is where the small UASs at the tactical edge are ubiquitous, right? Whether it’s for the purpose of sensing, that’s the tactical fight I was talking about, or whether it’s for sensing and lethality,” he told DefenseScoop. “For the bigger stuff — that’s been around for a while — but the small stuff, you know, at the squad or team or individual level, I think we’re getting ready to achieve that.”

Lt. Col. Matt Deffenbaugh, commanding officer of 3rd Marine Raider Support Battalion, said loitering munitions — also known as one-way attack UAS or kamikaze drones — provide another “organic” precision weapon for special operations forces.

“Being able to push that, like every other capability, how far forward can we push it and what’s the lowest level we can get that capability to? And so that provides a small team with a lethal capability that they’re able to put on the forward edge of the battlefield without having to have a large logistics train or large platforms to carry the system into combat with them,” he told DefenseScoop.

MARSOC’s interests in the unmanned systems space aren’t limited to loitering munitions, first-person-view drones and quadcopters — although those are in demand.

“Don’t just think about things that fly. Think about things that go on water, things that go underwater, things that go on the ground,” Huntley said.

However, MARSOC isn’t just looking for tech wizards to join its ranks. Raiders have to meet high physical standards and be prepared for “brutal” warfare, he noted.

“How we select and assess people is … you’re gonna have to be tough, rough and all that kind of stuff — 100 percent. You’re gonna have to know your weapon, your personal weapon system. You’re probably gonna have additional systems that you’re gonna have to be able to employ, whether it’s a UAS or fill in the blank — who knows what’s coming next. But also you’re gonna … have to be thinking at the tactical [about] how do I live, thrive and survive, and then how do I create effects for the — that will enable the joint force? All that’s happening not at [Maj.] Gen. Huntley’s level. It’s not happening at even the task force commander’s level. It’s happening at team leader or team chief level, at the … captains, the majors, the staff sergeants, or the gunnies,” Huntley said. “It’s probably gonna be an element that’s pretty damn small as well. Like, it’s pretty darn small, like maybe a handful of people, right? So that’s kind of the way we look at it … That’s the thinking that’s driving kind of our force development.”

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The proposed funding is part of a broader $150 billion reconciliation bill unveiled Sunday that’s intended to boost spending on U.S. military capabilities and border security.

“This legislation represents a generational upgrade for our nation’s defense capabilities, including historic investments in new technology,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a statement. “This is about building the future of American defense, achieving peace through strength, and ultimately deterring war.”

If the bill is passed, sizable investments would go toward kamikaze drones — also known as one-way attack drones or loitering munitions — that are designed to destroy their targets by crashing into them. U.S. Army and Marine Corps leaders are gung-ho about acquiring these types of capabilities after watching their heavy use in Ukraine and other conflicts.

The legislation would pump $1 billion into expanding the kamikaze drone industrial base, provide $50 million to accelerate delivery of one-way attack unmanned aerial systems with “advanced autonomy,” and allocate $145 million for the development of AI capabilities to enable one-way attack UAS and naval systems.

An additional $500 million would be allotted to “prevent delays” in the delivery of “attritable autonomous military capabilities.” The bill did not identify specific systems that lawmakers are concerned about facing potential delays.

The legislation also includes $1.1 billion in funding to expand the small UAS industrial base.

More money would go toward uncrewed maritime platforms, including about $1.8 billion for expansion of medium unmanned surface vessel production; $1.5 billion for expansion of small USV production; $1.3 billion for expansion of unmanned underwater vehicle production; $250 million for the development, production and integration of wave-powered UUVs; and $188 million for the development and testing of “maritime robotic autonomous systems and enabling technologies.”

Another $174 million would be invested in the development of a Test Resource Management Center robotic autonomous systems “proving ground.”

Pentagon officials are also keen on acquiring new capabilities to defeat adversaries’ drones, and the reconciliation bill includes funding for those types of tools.

The legislation would allocate $250 million for the development, production and integration of land-based counter-UAS programs; $200 million for the development, production and integration of ship-based counter-drone programs; and $350 million for the development, production and integration of non-kinetic counter-UAS programs. The term “non-kinetic” in U.S. military parlance generally refers to weapons that aren’t projectiles or missiles, such as electronic warfare, directed energy, or cyber capabilities.

“This legislation is a historic investment of $150 billion to restore America’s military capabilities and strengthen our national defense,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said in a statement. “Our military’s resources have declined over the years … Our defense industrial base has weakened. America’s deterrence is failing and without a generational investment in our national defense, we will lose the ability to defeat our adversaries.”

The HASC is slated to hold a markup session for the reconciliation bill Tuesday. The legislation will subsequently be sent to the House Budget Committee.

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Anduril describes its new Copperhead technology as a “high-speed, software-defined family of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) built for delivery by autonomous systems.”

The munition variant has been dubbed Copperhead-M.

“Despite the rapid advances in autonomous vehicles across air, surface, and subsea domains, torpedoes aren’t built at scale and production remains frozen in Cold War-era designs. Current systems are expensive, slow to produce, and tightly coupled to legacy platforms like nuclear submarines and warships. In addition, the U.S. and its allies need far more autonomous, quickly-deployable subsea systems that can integrate with the existing manned fleet and expanding fleet of autonomous subsea, surface, and air vehicles,” the company stated in a press release.

Anduril’s new platform comes in two models — the Copperhead-100 and Copperhead-500 — with different payload capacities.

The 100 model has a 12.75-inch diameter vehicle that’s about 2.5 meters in length and carries 100 pounds dry weight, while the 500 model is 21 inches in diameter and carries roughly 500 pounds dry weight. The top speed for both systems will be more than 30 knots, according to Shane Arnott, vice president of programs and engineering at Anduril.

The hull form is more square-shaped than a traditional torpedo which will make it easier to produce, Arnott told reporters ahead of the official announcement.

“Our production system is aimed at being able to produce very high hundreds to thousands of these systems a year,” he said.

Anduril already builds unmanned submarines, such as the Dive-XL, that the company says will be able to carry “dozens” of the smaller Copperhead-100Ms or “multiple” Copperhead-500Ms.

The contractor also envisions the new torpedoes being air-launched from cargo planes or large drones. An unmanned aerial system in the Group 4 category could carry the Copperhead-100. Because of its heavier weight, a Group 5 UAS would be needed to carry the Copperhead-500, Arnott said.

He noted that the Copperhead uses the company’s Lattice software platform.

“Given our products are software defined with Lattice means that as the threat evolves, we can upgrade our seeking technology so as the threats move and change their signature, etc., we can move with it and at the pace of relevance with just software upgrades alone,” he said.

Anduril is touting the Copperhead-M as a more cost-effective means of attacking adversaries’ unmanned underwater vehicles and uncrewed surface vessels.

Arnott declined to say what the unit cost of the Copperhead will be, but suggested it would be “a fraction” of the cost of existing torpedoes such as the Mk 48.

“As the fight’s changing, subsea is getting much more populated, particularly with enemy UUVs and USVs. It doesn’t really make sense that you would expend a Mark 48, for instance, on an enemy … UUV or a USV, where that munition actually costs multiple times the cost of the UUV,” Arnott said.

He told DefenseScoop that customers would be able to determine how autonomous the Copperheads will be in terms of selecting their targets.

“The systems are set up very similar to out other uncrewed systems, where you can give it parameters that are very much controlled by the customer or by the operator on what the engagement criteria are. So within parameters that are set by the operator, the robot can make decisions on which of the targets that it addresses,” he said.

Last week, Anduril also unveiled a new undersea sensing network capability called Seabed Sentry, which the company says can be deployed by autonomous underwater vehicles.

The contractor describes the tech as “AI-enabled, mobile, undersea sensor nodes networked together for persistent monitoring and real time communication,” that can “sense, process, and communicate critical subsea information at the edge.”

The systems have an endurance of “months to years” and a depth rating of more than 500 meters, according to Anduril.

The technology leverages Lattice software platform and, like the Copperhead, is designed to be deployable by unmanned underwater vehicles, such as the contractor’s Dive family of uncrewed submarines, according to a press release.

Arnott suggested Copperheads will be able to exchange data with their launch platforms, Seabed Sentry nodes and each other.

“The overriding software that sits on top of that is Lattice … that gives the ability for all of those systems to talk to each other,” Arnott said.

“We utilize acoustic technologies as well as some optical in order to talk under the waves. We’ve spent a lot of time in our software making sure that we can deal with the extremely low bandwidth that you get subsea. When you’re in the air domain, it is very easy to communicate, the laws of physics are much kinder to you. But we have spent a lot of time dealing with both low power but also the ability to pack a lot in very, very thin bandwidths, in order to enable that collaborative capability, which is central to all of our subsea products that we’re now going public with across a number of different segments here,” he said.

Anduril has been testing Copperhead and expects to move into production later this year.

“We are in the water with the Copperhead at the moment. We are working through finalization of that before we head into production,” Arnott told reporters.

The unveiling of the technology comes as the Navy is pursuing Project 33 and other initiatives to add more unmanned platforms and firepower to the fleet in preparation for a potential war against China in the Indo-Pacific in the coming years. The service has already been experimenting with using maritime drones to launch loitering munitions.

Arnott declined to say whether the company already has a U.S. military customer for Copperhead-M.

“We cannot talk publicly about who we’re working with on the government side,” he told reporters. “We can’t talk to the contracts.”

He noted that Anduril funded the initial development of the technology with its own money.

Anduril is expected to display the Copperhead system at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference this week.

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