US Department of Defense Launches Project Meridian Led by Musk, Luckey, and Gingrich

The US Department of Defense has announced a new initiative called Project Meridian, aimed at studying future battlefields and identifying the weapons and technologies needed to maintain military superiority. The project will be led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich.

According to a commissioning note from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Project Meridian “will study the battlefields of the future, identify which weapons and technologies warfighters will need to harness to dominate in these environments, and propose actionable solutions to start developing, testing and fielding these capabilities.” As CNBC reported, none of the three leaders has served in the US military. However, Musk’s SpaceXAI and Luckey’s Anduril both have existing contracts with the Pentagon, worth up to $4.16 billion combined. Gingrich has no obvious ties to the tech sector but has worked adjacent to military projects and received an honorary doctorate from Air University in 2025.

The announcement comes after a year in which the Defense Department faced several controversies in 2026, including a classified war plan leak via Signal, an incident reportedly tied to an AI-generated report, and the designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk. The new initiative has drawn scrutiny over its purpose and potential influence on Pentagon decision-making.