The Pulse
U.S. Army Orders New Command to Speed Autonomous Systems
Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle directed the creation of Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, or FASCOM, in a memo dated October 1, 2026. The Army’s plan also sets priorities for autonomous equipment, procurement authority, force s
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
The U.S. Army’s directive to create Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command is dated October 1, 2026; the service announced it publicly the next day. The order, signed by Acting Army Secretary Adam R. Telle, assigns the Army vice chief of staff to establish the new command and links it to a broader push to reorganize force structure, procurement and personnel around autonomous systems.
FASCOM gets a role in Army-wide planning
The directive calls the organization the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, or FASCOM. It tasks the Army G-3/5/7 Force Management Directorate with developing force structures that incorporate autonomous capabilities in at least six formations: aviation, armor, fires, sustainment, engineering and training.
The order sets a minimum of six areas, not a final list of units or a detailed deployment plan. It does not specify when FASCOM will become operational, how it will be staffed or where it will be based. The Army says the command is part of its effort to put autonomous technology into formations, acquisitions and training.
“This is about combat readiness to destroy the enemy and ensure our Army never enters a fair fight,” Telle said in the Army’s announcement. The service describes the directive as its implementation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s call for the military departments to build organizations, acquisition approaches and career fields that accelerate autonomy.
A single acquisition executive will oversee autonomy
The memo directs the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology to designate a Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Autonomy. That executive is to hold single acquisition authority and pursue faster procurement of priority autonomous capabilities, consolidating responsibility for a portfolio that spans several kinds of equipment.
The Army’s listed priorities include autonomous fires, combat vehicles, watercraft for resupply, breaching systems, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. The order also prioritizes collaborative operations between crewed and uncrewed platforms. It sets fiscal year 2028 as the latest target for acquiring and fielding those capabilities; the announcement does not provide a budget or specific delivery quantities.
The Army says the initiative builds on work already under way through its Capability Program Executive Office for Mission Autonomy, activated earlier in 2026 to integrate autonomous technologies across multiple portfolios. FASCOM and the acquisition executive add command and procurement structures to that existing effort, while the directive separately assigns force-design work to the Army’s G-3/5/7.
Specialist roles move closer to Army units
The personnel portion of the order directs the assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs to expand authorizations for two specialties across applicable Army units. They are 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Specialists and 390A Robotics Technicians. The memo does not say how many additional positions the Army will authorize or how quickly units will receive them.
Hegseth announced a separate, department-wide Autonomous Warfare Command during a September 30 address at Marine Corps Base Quantico. The Army’s FASCOM is a service command assigned to the Army vice chief of staff; it is not the same organization as the planned joint command. In its account of the speech, the Army said Hegseth described the joint effort as focused on developing autonomous and robotic capabilities across the force.
For now, Telle’s one-page order specifies the Army’s near-term organizational tasks: establish FASCOM, align at least six formation areas with autonomous capabilities, appoint an acquisition executive, prioritize named equipment categories by fiscal year 2028 and expand two technical specialties. It leaves the command’s operating details and the scale of those personnel changes unstated.