The Department of War on Monday announced a sweeping Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy aimed at making the U.S. military the world’s leading AI-enabled fighting force, marking a major shift in how the Pentagon develops and deploys emerging technologies.
The strategy, mandated by President Donald Trump, directs the department to become an “AI-first” warfighting organization by accelerating experimentation, cutting bureaucratic barriers, and integrating frontier AI capabilities across warfighting, intelligence, and enterprise operations.
“We will unleash experimentation, eliminate bureaucratic barriers, focus our investments and demonstrate the execution approach needed to ensure we lead in military AI,” said Pete Hegseth, adding that the Department of War will become an AI-first force “across all domains.”
Seven Pace-Setting Projects
Central to the strategy are seven “Pace-Setting Projects,” each assigned a single accountable leader and aggressive timelines. The projects are designed to establish a new execution standard for military AI development and deployment.
In the warfighting category, the Department outlined initiatives such as Swarm Forge, which pairs elite combat units with technology innovators to test AI-enabled tactics; Agent Network, focused on AI-assisted battle management and decision support; and Ender’s Foundry, which accelerates AI-driven simulation and operational feedback loops.
The intelligence projects include Open Arsenal, intended to compress the timeline from intelligence collection to weapons development, and Project Grant, which seeks to shift deterrence from static postures to dynamic, measurable pressure.
On the enterprise side, the Department announced GenAI.mil, which will provide Department-wide access to advanced generative AI models for cleared personnel, as well as Enterprise Agents, a framework for deploying secure AI agents to modernize internal workflows.
Wartime Approach to AI Integration
The strategy directs the Department to adopt what officials described as a wartime approach to AI integration, prioritizing speed, experimentation, and continuous iteration over traditional acquisition timelines.
“Speed defines victory in the AI era, and the War Department will match the velocity of America’s AI industry,” said Emil Michael. “We’re pulling in the best talent, the most cutting-edge technology, and embedding the top frontier AI models into the workforce — all at a rapid wartime pace.”
The Department also announced plans to significantly expand AI compute infrastructure, unlock access to operational and intelligence data, and accelerate hiring of technical talent through special authorities and federal tech recruitment initiatives.
Policy Shift on AI Ideology
The memorandum explicitly states that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations and social ideology will not be incorporated into military AI systems, directing procurement officials to prioritize “objective, mission-first” models capable of lawful military use without ideological constraints.
Department leadership emphasized that the strategy aligns with President Trump’s broader AI policy directives and national security priorities.
Officials said the strategy will be implemented immediately, with monthly progress reviews and initial demonstrations of several projects expected within six months.
