The Pentagon group set up to speed up the production of drones and counter-drone technology, known as DAWG, is being absorbed into a new task force inside US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), defence officials said at the Association of the US Army’s annual conference this week. Breaking Defense and Inside Defense reported the change on 13 and 14 October 2026.
What is changing
According to Breaking Defense, Derrick Anderson, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, said DAWG “is being absorbed by a new Task Force Autonomous Warfare inside SOCOM”. He said the task force will support Project Agincourt and, eventually, the planned Autonomous Warfare Command, so the team can “keep iterating” and there isn’t a “stagnant pause”.
Inside Defense reported that Col. Michael Penn told the conference DAWG has “transitioned” to the “Joint Task Force-Autonomous Warfare”. The two outlets use slightly different names for the new body.
Breaking Defense said DAWG was set up as a follow-on to Replicator, the Biden-era drive to mass-produce drones, and was placed under SOCOM in 2025.
The bigger plan
The Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM, was announced earlier, and Breaking Defense described it as “recently announced”. It is planned as a new four-star command with “service-like authorities” to scale up autonomous and robotic systems. Breaking Defense noted that Congress “will have to sign off” on it. The Pentagon has already moved its autonomy portfolio office into Project Agincourt, an umbrella programme for uncrewed technology.
The money
Breaking Defense reported that “the Pentagon has laid out plans to spend nearly $55 billion on DAWG.” That is a spending plan, not money approved by Congress: lawmakers have not yet passed the 2027 defence spending bill, and it is unclear how much will be approved.
“[It is] a one-time generational investment gives us a chance to reflect the president’s priorities,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on stage, according to Breaking Defense.
What this means
- Drone work moves under special operations. SOCOM gets a dedicated autonomy task force.
- A bigger command is still pending. AUTOWARCOM needs Congress to sign off.
- The money is not settled. The roughly $55 billion is a plan, not approved funding.
Sources
- Breaking Defense, “Hegseth uses AUSA spotlight to push autonomy, ‘generational’ defense investment”, Ashley Roque, 14 October 2026. https://breakingdefense.com/2026/10/hegseth-uses-ausa-spotlight-to-highlight-autonomy-generational-defense-investment/
- Inside Defense, “DAWG has ‘transitioned’ to being the ‘Joint Task Force-Autonomous Warfare'”, Dan Schere, 13 October 2026. https://insidedefense.com/ai-news-briefs/dawg-has-transitioned-being-joint-task-force-autonomous-warfare
