US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called a nearly US$1.5 trillion defence budget request absolutely critical, warning that whoever falls behind in autonomy, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will fall even further behind amid China’s rapid military modernisation.

Speaking at a panel during the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition on Wednesday, Hegseth said Project Agincourt, the Pentagon’s initiative to accelerate drone and autonomous warfare capabilities, is the end point of what the administration has been focusing on since day one.