Project Meridian will recommend what weapons the military should build. Two of its three leaders run companies that already sell to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has named Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey, who run two companies with large Pentagon contracts, co-leaders of a study that will recommend which weapons and technologies the department should pursue next. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the third co-leader.
Hegseth announced the effort, called Project Meridian, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in a State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. "Under the leadership of the department's chief technology officer, Emil Michael, Project Meridian will be co-led by three of our nation's best minds," Hegseth said, according to a transcript of the speech. He then named Musk, Luckey and Gingrich and asked all three, who were in the audience, to stand.
A memo Hegseth signed Sept. 30 says Project Meridian will "study the battlefields of the future," identify the weapons and technologies warfighters will need, and "propose actionable solutions to start developing, testing and fielding these capabilities." Findings are due to Hegseth's office no later than Jan. 28, 2027. In the speech, Hegseth said the work would culminate in "a full public rollout" and a classified annex.
The memo names only Michael. It says the work will go through "a partner organization" and does not identify it. It does not mention conflicts of interest. MITRE, a nonprofit that runs federally funded research centers, says on its own page about Project Meridian that the Department of War commissioned it to lead the initiative and lists Gingrich, Luckey and Musk as co-directors. The page says outside experts "will meet regularly to inform the development of strategic recommendations." It does not describe conflict-of-interest safeguards.
Politico reported that the Pentagon said in a statement that MITRE will lead the project with help from Michael, will be responsible for the analysis and recommendations, and will apply "appropriate conflict-of-interest and information safeguards." A Pentagon spokesman told The New York Times in an email that MITRE "will evaluate all inputs with technical rigor while applying appropriate conflict-of-interest and information safeguards." Officials involved in the effort told the Times that conflicts of interest would be managed so such activity would not occur.
Hegseth said in the speech that the best forecasters of future conflict "do not solely reside inside the Pentagon." He added: "There are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them." Axios quoted Luckey as saying the study will look at "the wars we cannot afford to fight in 2030, 2050, and 2100."
Both Musk and Luckey sell to the department they will now help advise. SpaceX has received at least $6.9 billion in Pentagon and NASA contracts since early last year, according to a Times analysis of spending records, and Politico said the Pentagon has given it two multibillion-dollar contracts to build secret satellite constellations. Anduril holds Pentagon contracts for counter-drone systems, interceptors and electronic warfare. The Army announced a contract with Anduril worth up to $20 billion in March. In June, the Air Force awarded production contracts to Anduril and General Atomics for its first operational semi-autonomous drone wingmen.
Politico reported that nine current and former officials said any preferential access could allow the two executives to steer more business to their companies. "Musk and Luckey should be treated as vendors," said Bill Hartung, a principal adviser at the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight. "Not grand strategists." Max Stier, chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, told the Times that "there's no question that his financial interests are directly engaged in the position he's going to fill here."
Democratic senators objected. "Forgive me if I'm skeptical of entrusting the future of American warfare to people with zero military experience who stand to financially benefit from the decisions they're making," said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a member of the Armed Services Committee. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., called the commission an example of Hegseth "putting his political alliances ahead of our national security," Politico reported.
Anduril said in a statement that it would "commit to complying with highest ethical standards where actual conflicts of interest arise." The Times reported that the Anduril spokesman also said the project "fits squarely" with a Defense Department tradition of working with industry partners on new technology and fighting techniques. Gingrich, in a brief phone interview with the Times on Friday, said Musk spent three days meeting with the panelists at Quantico, the Pentagon and MITRE's offices in McLean, Virginia. He dismissed the conflict concerns. "As if the richest guy in the world is going to think that deeply about something that will help him," he told the Times, "that he's going to go, 'Oh, gosh, I could get a real advantage here, I could make another $5 million.' It just tells you how sick the system is." Musk did not respond to requests for comment from the Times or Politico.
The panel has other members with industry ties, the Times reported: Dino Mavrookas, chief executive of the drone boat company Saronic; venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale; Oracle executive vice chair Safra Catz; and retired Army Gen. James Rainey, who advises two defense technology companies. The Times noted that legacy contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are largely absent. MITRE's page says the membership "will continue to evolve as the initiative develops."
Politico noted that Pentagon chiefs of both parties have brought in outside experts for decades, including an Obama-era effort to link the department with Silicon Valley that Eric Schmidt chaired while he was executive chair of Alphabet. Politico called Hegseth's decision to give influential roles to leaders of powerful defense contractors who have also been Trump donors "more unusual."
The group has held two meetings at the Pentagon, Politico reported, at least one of which included Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Phil Hegseth, the secretary's younger brother and a department adviser. The role is Musk's first formal government position since he left the Department of Government Efficiency in 2025. The Times reported that he has committed and spent at least $100 million to help Republican candidates in battleground states in this year's midterms.
The documents leave one question open. Hegseth's speech has the three co-leading under Michael. The memo names only Michael and an unnamed partner. MITRE's page says it leads and lists the three as co-directors. None of them explains how a co-director's input is kept separate from MITRE's analysis. The report is due Jan. 28, 2027, and a former defense official told Politico it will miss the Pentagon's 2028 budget.
Sources:
Department of War: Commissioning of Project Meridian (memo, Sept. 30)
Rev: Hegseth State of the Force address (transcript)
MITRE: Project Meridian
The New York Times: With Elon Musk's Return to Washington, Possible Conflicts of Interest Resurface (Kate Kelly)
Politico: Pentagon officials warn of conflicts over Musk, Luckey commission
Axios: Musk returns to Trump world for Pentagon war study
TechCrunch: US Army announces contract with Anduril worth up to $20B
Defense News: Air Force awards first CCA production contracts
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