Hegseth Announces New Autonomous Warfare Command as Equipment and Safety Issues Draw Scrutiny

Hegseth Announces New Autonomous Warfare Command as Equipment and Safety Issues Draw Scrutiny

**Autonomous Warfare Command**

US Defense Secretary Hegseth announced the creation of a new four-star command, the Autonomous Warfare Command (AutoWarCom). It aims to address an acquisition system that isn't keeping pace with the speed of technological change. ^[1]

**The F-14 Tomcat's Variable-Sweep Wing**

A retrospective notes that the F-14 Tomcat's variable-sweep wing was handled automatically by computer. A pilot could force the wings further aft than the computer wanted — but never further forward, because the lift would have damaged the aircraft. The piece quotes Dave "Bio" Baranek describing it as a trick used carefully, because it cost real maneuverability. ^[2]

**USS Enterprise: Retirement and Dismantling**

The dismantling of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is expected to take nearly 18 years. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned in 2018 that the job was closer to decommissioning a nuclear power plant than breaking up a ship, priced the public-shipyard route at up to $1.55 billion, and said work wouldn't start until 2034. The Navy ultimately chose the commercial route. A losing bidder sued, the judge called the Navy's decision arbitrary and capricious, and the rebid came in $118 million cheaper. The ship is now being towed to Mobile, where crews will cut up 93,000 tons of steel by hand. ^[3]

**The S-3 Viking**

The S-3 Viking had ten hours of endurance, could make better than 500 mph at 25,000 feet, and carried a four-man crew with sonobuoys and a bomb bay — a complete submarine hunter-killer in one airframe. After the Soviet Navy tied up at the pier, the Navy found new jobs for it: anti-ship strike with the Harpoon, and conversion into the ES-3A Shadow, stripped of its sonar gear and fitted with around sixty antennas to listen for the strike group commander. ^[4]

**Navy Personnel Crisis**

The US Navy confirmed that eight sailors died by suicide at an Oklahoma base in one year. Families say those deaths, along with eight attempted suicides in the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group, illustrate a systemic problem in the US Navy. ^[5]

**Hormuz and Oil Flows**

Reports note that Iranian crude is still flowing out through the Caspian Sea and overland borders with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Saudi tankers, meanwhile, are rerouting south through Houthi-controlled waters to China rather than north to Europe. ^[6]

**Analysis**

Hegseth's announcement of the Autonomous Warfare Command highlights the US military's attempt to use top-level institutional reform to bridge the gap between technological change and the acquisition process. At the same time, the retrospectives on the F-14 and the S-3 show that platform design trade-offs and mission adaptability remain central questions in equipment development; the high cost and long timeline of the USS Enterprise's dismantling expose the complexity and legal risk of end-of-life disposal for nuclear-powered carriers. The Navy's suicide problem points to a deeper management and mental health crisis. And shifting oil shipping routes around the Strait of Hormuz show how regional conflict and armed control zones are reshaping energy shipping. Together, these developments form a multi-dimensional picture of today's defense, equipment and security environment. ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}