SecDef: AI, counter-UAS tech are key focuses for rapid fielding efforts
NewsMay 06, 2025
TAMPA, Florida. Targeting platforms enabled by artificial intelligence and counter-drone systems are some examples of technologies that need to be rapidly introduced to the field, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told attendees during his keynote address at the SOF Week 2025 annual symposium here on Tuesday.
"That rapid fielding, that rapid integration, that feedback loop is critical across the joint force," Hegseth said. "Today that means mortar and munitions, AI-enabled targeting platforms, and new counter-UAS systems."
Hegseth also highlighted Golden Dome for America and a future 6th-generation fighter aircraft.
"Our goal is to put the best systems in the hands of our warfighters," he said. "We're doing this by reviving our defense industrial base, reforming our acquisition process, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies," he said. "What we see today in your formations are the fielding of rapidly emerging technologies, which are critically important that help us remain a leader in the world for generations to come. Everyone here today ... has a role to play in rebuilding our military."
He pointed to special operations forces as key to that effort, describing it as operating "like a tech startup."
"You leverage innovation ... and you push the limits of technology and human performance in a way that conventional formations just cannot," Hegseth said. "You adopt advanced technologies early, you make them better, and ... spread [them] to the rest of the joint force. You are willing to experiment and fail while learning from each failure and each success. We need you to keep doing that."
