Defense Spending Surges as US Accelerates Push into AI and Autonomous Warfare

The U.S. defense industry is receiving a significant boost in spending as Washington accelerates efforts to replenish missile inventories, expand production capacity, and push the military toward artificial intelligence and autonomous warfare.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently announced the creation of an Autonomous Warfare Command (AutoWarCom) to accelerate the military's use of drones, robotics, and AI. 'The pace of war is changing faster than the process to support it,' Hegseth said, adding that the military needs both 'quality and quantity.'

Ondas (ONDS) has expanded its counter-drone portfolio with the launch of Dronebuster REACH, a long-range system designed to electronically disrupt hostile drones. The first system is under contract for delivery to the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

Boeing (BA) scored major fighter-jet awards, including a $20 billion development program for the F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter and a $2.38 billion contract for 22 additional F-15EX fighters. RTX's (RTX) unit Raytheon won a contract worth up to $20.7 billion to accelerate production of AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.

L3Harris (LHX) received a contract from Lockheed Martin worth more than $6 billion over seven years to increase propulsion production for the THAAD missile-defense system.