Pentagon's Rapid Production of Autonomous Systems to Counter China

The Pentagon is launching an ambitious initiative called Replicator, led by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, to rapidly produce and deploy thousands of autonomous systems within 18 to 24 months. The goal is to counter China's larger stockpile of traditional weapons and address the threat it poses in the Indo-Pacific region. The Pentagon aims to leverage technological innovation to narrow the gap and deter potential Chinese aggression, particularly in relation to Taiwan. The Replicator program also seeks to establish a template for future rapid fielding of military technology, with the potential for lessons learned to be applied throughout the Department of Defense. The cost is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.