Supercharging Innovation at the War Department

Daily News Article — Posted on January 14, 2026

(Dallas Express) – 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 Secretary Pete Hegseth during his announcement from Starbase, TX, adding that the Department of War will become an AI-first force “across all domains.”

Seven Pace-Setting Projects

Central to the AI Acceleration Strategy are seven “Pace-Setting Projects,” each assigned a single accountable leader and aggressive timelines. In his announcement Monday, Secretary Hegseth said the projects “will address key opportunities for enhanced military AI advantage across Warfighting, Intelligence, and Enterprise mission areas.” The projects are designed to establish a new execution standard for military AI development and deployment. [These PSPs will address key opportunities for enhanced military AI advantage across Warfighting, Intelligence, and Enterprise mission areas:

“Warfighting:”

1. Swarm Forge*, which pairs elite combat units with technology innovators to test AI-enabled tactics (*Read about Swarm Forge under “Background” below the questions)
2. Agent Network, focused on AI-assisted battle management and decision support
3. Ender’s Foundry, which accelerates AI-driven simulation and operational feedback loops

“Intelligence”

4. Open Arsenal, intended to compress the timeline from intelligence collection to weapons development. Emphasizes open, accessible AI tools and integrations for broader military use.
5. Project Grant, which seeks to shift deterrence from static postures to dynamic, measurable pressure. Likely supports funding/acceleration for emerging AI capabilities or grants to innovators.

“Enterprise”

6. GenAI.mil, which will provide Department-wide access to advanced generative AI models for cleared personnel
7. Enterprise Agents, a framework for deploying secure AI agents to modernize internal workflows

Note: Not all seven of the Seven Pace-Setting Projects have been publicly named in full detail yet; Swarm Forge is the most explicitly described in DoW releases, while others appear in memos and secondary reporting as part of the set.

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, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (USW(R&E)) and Chief Technology Officer for the DoW. “We’re pulling in the best talent, the most cutting-edge technology, and embedding the top frontier AI models [Google Gemini and xAI] 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 AI Acceleration strategy will be implemented immediately, with monthly progress reviews and initial demonstrations of several projects expected within six months.

Published at Dallas Express on Jan. 13, 2026. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.

Questions

NOTE TO STUDENTS: Before answering the questions, read the “Background” below the questions and watch the video under “Resources.”

1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)

2. What is significant about the DoW's new strategy?

3. How does the newly announced DoW AI Acceleration Strategy aim to become an AI-first warfighting organization?

4. What are the AI Acceleration Strategy's "Pace-Setting Projects" designed to do?

5. Read more about the Swarm Forge initiative under "Background" below the questions. Consider how far drone use has come in warfare today (e.g. Ukraine). How necessary do you think the Swarm Forge initiative is in ensuring the U.S. military's overall dominance?

6. The strategy directs the Department to adopt what officials described as a wartime approach to AI integration.
a) What does this involve?
b) Define iteration.

7. How quickly will the AI strategy be implemented?

8. How does the DoW's new AI strategy inspire you?

Background

The seven Pace-Setting Projects (PSPs) feature:

A single accountable leader
Aggressive timelines
Monthly progress reporting (inspired by Elon's "what have you accomplished this week?" standard)
Real-time feedback from warfighters
Emphasis on rapid iteration, learning from failure, and discovering new AI-native ways of fighting (not just adding AI to old methods)

Swarm Forge is one of the seven Pace-Setting Projects (PSPs). It falls under the "Warfighting" domain and serves as the flagship initiative for rapidly advancing AI-enabled combat tactics.

Key Details on Swarm Forge:

Swarm Forge is a competitive, iterative mechanism designed to discover, test, and scale novel ways of fighting both with and against AI-enabled capabilities (especially drone swarms, autonomous systems, and coordinated AI operations).

Emphasizes rapid experimentation, real-world testing, quick failure/learning cycles, and continuous iteration to push the boundaries of AI in warfare.
Combines America's elite warfighting units (e.g., special operations forces, high-readiness combat teams) with top technology innovators (from private sector companies, startups, and Silicon Valley-style developers). This creates hybrid teams that field-test ideas in realistic scenarios, similar to force-on-force combat labs mentioned in Hegseth's Starbase speech.
Goal: Accelerate the development of lethal, overwhelming AI-native tactics that give U.S. forces decisive advantages at the tactical edge. It aims to outpace adversaries by treating innovation as fast, competitive sprints rather than slow bureaucratic processes.

Status (as of January 13, 2026) — Newly announced and in early rollout phase. A "sneak preview" video shared by the official Department of War CTO account (@DoWCTO) shows drone swarms integrated with elite units for testing and domination. The project is one of the immediate catalysts for the broader strategy, with aggressive timelines, single accountable leaders, and monthly progress reporting required.

This aligns with the overall push to make the War Department an "AI-first" warfighting force, integrating frontier models like Google Gemini (already live) and xAI's Grok (going live later this month) to power these experiments. The strategy builds on the Trump administration's push for military AI dominance — prioritizing speed, lethality, and "objective" models — to outpace adversaries in an era of AI-driven warfare.

Swarm Forge draws inspiration from real-world drone swarm advancements seen in recent conflicts and aims to ensure U.S. dominance in swarm-based and counter-swarm warfare. More operational details (e.g., specific units, timelines, or test locations) are expected to emerge as the project ramps up in FY2026. (Grok, Jan. 13)