U.S. military must adapt to autonomous systems and space warfare

General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has emphasized the urgent need for the U.S. military to adapt to a changing character of war. Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Caine warned that military formations must prepare for environments where they are “hunted by autonomous systems, jammed across the spectrum and tracked in real time.”

Caine noted that adversaries are increasingly interconnected through the sharing of technology, intelligence, and economic support. He stressed the necessity of delivering lethality at scale through an agile mix of combat capabilities to ensure the 2.8 million-member joint force is prepared for future conflicts.

In addition to terrestrial and autonomous threats, military leaders highlighted the expansion of combat domains. Lieutenant General Gregory Gagnon of the Space Force stated that forces must be prepared to fight from the “bottom of the sea to the cis-lunar region.” This shift follows recent acknowledgments from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink regarding the deployment of “space control weapons” in orbit, marking the first time the U.S. has officially recognized its offensive space capabilities in response to maneuvers by China and Russia.