The Department of Defense has announced new details about its Replicator initiative, a project aimed at fielding thousands of all-domain attritable autonomous (ADA2) systems to counter the Chinese regime’s military in a possible conflict.
“The first tranche of Replicator capabilities include uncrewed surface vehicles (USV), uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and counter-uncrewed aerial systems (c-UAS) of various sizes and payloads from several traditional and non-traditional vendors,” the Pentagon said.
“U.S.-supplied Switchblade drones have already demonstrated their utility in Ukraine, and this system will provide additional capability to U.S. forces,” the Pentagon added.
“I am pleased to announce that the Department will begin investing in scalable production for these critical capabilities,” Ms. Hicks said. “We are taking an important step toward strengthening our defense and technology industrial base.
“We are demonstrating the Department’s ability to break down barriers to scaling innovation at speed not just for ADA2 systems, but in our ability to develop new capabilities and processes for the Department and key stakeholders, including Congress.”
The Pentagon will spend about $500 million on the Replicator initiative in the current fiscal year, according to the statement. This figure includes about $300 million from this year’s defense appropriations bill, with additional money from “existing authorities and Defense-wide sources.”
The department has requested roughly another $500 million for the next fiscal year, according to the statement.
“These investments bring together the capabilities of a broad range of traditional and nontraditional technology companies, including systems vendors, component manufacturers, and software developers,” the Pentagon wrote.
The statement said Replicator’s other capabilities “remain classified, including others in the maritime domain and some in the counter-UAS portfolio.” It also noted that the Pentagon is “preparing the next tranche of capabilities to add to the ADA2 portfolio.”
Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), said the Pentagon’s announcement “is a critical step“ in delivering the capabilities needed, at the scale and speed needed, to ”continue securing a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
“And that’s why the PRC remains the Department’s pacing challenge.”
