How the Pentagon Describes Future Warfighting Tools
Replicator aimed to field thousands of uncrewed systems by August 2025. CRS, citing a former official, said only hundreds had been fielded by then.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2026 — The Defense Department unveiled Replicator on Aug. 28, 2023, as an initiative to field thousands of uncrewed systems by August 2025, the Congressional Research Service reported in a brief updated Jan. 21, 2026. The first line of effort, Replicator 1, is to field all-domain, attritable autonomous systems — comparatively low-cost systems that the department says it can afford to lose. In a Sept. 27, 2024, memo, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced a second line, Replicator 2, focused on countering small uncrewed aerial systems.
CRS records the purpose in the department’s own terms. Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said Replicator was intended to help the United States overcome the Chinese military’s “advantage in mass: more ships, more missiles, more forces.” Officials described systems that could be built and fielded more quickly than large platforms such as aircraft carriers, used for shorter periods, and then replaced by newer designs. They also said Replicator was meant to supplement, not replace, more expensive systems.
What has been disclosed, and what remains dated
DOD has released only limited information about specific systems, CRS reports, citing operational security. Officials have confirmed the selection of AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600 loitering munition, Anduril’s Altius-600 and Ghost-X uncrewed aircraft, and Performance Drone Works’ C-100, as well as uncrewed surface vehicles and counter-drone systems of various sizes. Anduril’s Dive-LD uncrewed undersea vehicle and Fortem Technologies’ DroneHunter F700 have been reported as among those selected. Seven companies were selected to provide software for autonomy and command and control.
The original timetable was ambitious. Replicator was intended to field thousands of systems by the summer of 2025. CRS, citing a former defense official, wrote that the department had fielded only hundreds by that time. That is an official research service’s account of a shortfall, not a new count published by the department itself.
Money followed the same constrained public trail. CRS reported a $300 million fiscal 2023 reprogramming request, $200 million in fiscal 2024 appropriations and a $500 million request for fiscal 2025. On Aug. 27, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a memo consolidating Replicator 2 resources into Joint Interagency Task Force 401, described as the department’s lead organization for countering small drones. The department announced its first Replicator 2 acquisition on Jan. 11, 2026.
Replicator sits inside a wider official discussion of future warfighting tools. The CRS report on great-power competition describes a renewed emphasis on high-end conventional warfare, unmanned systems, autonomy and faster fielding of new weapons against a peer adversary. The initiative’s public record, as of the January 2026 CRS update, is more limited than the original slogan. The department wanted thousands of attritable systems by August 2025. A former official, as cited by CRS, said the result by that summer was in the hundreds, while work on counter-drone systems continued into 2026. Technology coverage continues on the future warfare hub and military technology. Related reporting includes what a loitering munition is, drones, AI and hypersonics and LRASM integration on the B-52.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service: DOD Replicator Initiative (IF12611)
- Congressional Research Service: Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense (R43838)
