Pentagon

On 30 September, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon plans a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command for drones and robots. Pentagon memoranda set 1 October 2027 as its intended start date, subject to congressional approval. The proposed command would hold its own budget and buying powers.

The Pentagon is testing the supply base beneath that command. On 2 July, 19 firms had five weeks to deliver 120 armed drones for a Fort Carson test. On 18 September, the Defense Innovation Unit selected ten Gauntlet II winners for expected orders of about 60,000 drones. The 120-drone requirement tested delivery by finalists; the 60,000 figure described possible follow-on orders, not the same delivery count.

On 24 July, the Pentagon cut its official Iran-war death toll from 18 to 14 and reduced the wounded count from 482 to 420, citing temporary data disruptions. On 26 July, it restored the death toll to 18 and reported 624 wounded. The changes made the department's own reporting process part of the story of US losses.

On 4 August, House Oversight members demanded the Pentagon's full casualty change log and set an 18 August response Deadline. The request put the department's reporting records under formal congressional scrutiny, rather than treating the revisions as a routine correction.