Secretary Pete Hegseth Plans to Showcase War Department Innovation

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said he plans to give a speech in October showcasing the “speed, innovation and generational acquisition reforms” the department has taken under his leadership, he announced during his address to America’s top military leadership this week.

Hegseth, who addressed more than 800 of the nation’s top military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, said the War Department urgently needed to build its strength quickly to meet the geopolitical challenges of today.

“This urgent moment, of course, requires more troops, more munitions, more drones, more patriots, more submarines, more B-21 bombers. It requires more innovation, more AI in everything and ahead of the curve, more cyber effects, more counter-UAS, more space, more speed,” Hegseth said.

War Department has made innovation a key focus of its modernization efforts, with multiple services including the Army, Navy and Marine Corps developing digital modernization and cybersecurity implementation plans to bolster security by 2030.

It has taken cues from the Russo-Ukrainian War, where drones and counter-UAS technology have come to dominate the battlefield. Leaders within Congress and the War Department have advocated for an increase in UAS and counter-UAS production to prepare for the battlefields of the future.

“We don’t have the defense industrial base production … to keep up with that. We need to be thinking from a capabilities perspective about bringing in all of the technology that we can. The government is not going to be able to take the lead on the technology aspect of this,” Brendan Gavin, general counsel of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said at the 2025 Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C.

Hegseth also called for the restoration of the defense industrial base, saying that America must partner with its allies to deliver real capabilities that can make a difference on the battlefield.

“The moment requires restoring and refocusing our defense industrial base, our shipbuilding industry and on-shoring all critical components. It requires, as President Trump has done, getting our allies and partners to step up and share the burden,” Hegseth said.

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has developed initiatives like the Digital OnRamp, which uses artificial intelligence to connect innovative private sector companies to War Department users.

“The point here is to help [innovators and industry] navigate their way to an opportunity,” Deputy Director of DIU’s Digital Platforms and Developer Ecosystem Cheryl Ingstad told GovCIO Media & Research in April 2025. “We’re talking about the early part of the business development process, the discovery step. How can we speed that up?”

Additionally, the Navy has continued to revitalize the shipbuilding industry, with goals of developing a manned and unmanned fleet by 2030. President Trump told Congress in March 2025 that he would create an Office of Shipbuilding in the White House, and various private and public sector leaders have suggested that initiatives like tax incentives, robotics and modular shipbuilding could contribute to bolstering the fleet.

Hegseth also announced plans to address threats in the Western Hemisphere and China in an upcoming speech.