Replicator Initiative: Inside the DoD Autonomous Systems Program

The Department of Defense launched the Replicator initiative to field thousands of attritable autonomous systems by August 2025.

The Department of Defense (DoD) unveiled the Replicator initiative on August 28, 2023, with a goal to field thousands of all-domain, attritable autonomous (ADA2) systems by August 2025. Then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced the initiative to address the People's Republic of China's advantage in mass, specifically citing more ships, more missiles, and more people. According to Congressional Research Service (CRS) report IF12611, attritable systems are comparatively low-cost systems with which DoD tolerates a greater degree of risk of system loss. DoD officials describe Replicator as covering possible aerial, ground, surface, sub-surface, and space systems.

DoD is also using the secondary name Department of War under Executive Order 14347, signed on September 5, 2025. In government documents and budget analyses, official sources use both names.

Stated Goals and Rationale for Replicator

Replicator aims to field attritable autonomous systems to achieve specific strategic outcomes. According to CRS report IF12611, the three stated purposes of Replicator 1 are to avoid concentrating combat power in fewer, more expensive platforms; make it harder for an adversary to target and neutralize U.S. capabilities; and create an unfavorable cost-exchange ratio for an adversary.

DoD officials state that Replicator draws lessons from Ukraine, where observers estimate as many as 10,000 low-cost attritable systems per month have been used. Officials also state that Replicator is intended to supplement more exquisite systems rather than replace them. The initiative aims to improve processes for rapidly scaling and fielding new capabilities, and to accelerate the U.S. drone industrial base. Readers researching broader autonomous programs can compare this effort to Collaborative Combat Aircraft or review concepts in drone swarm technology.

Program Management and Disclosed Funding

Replicator sat under the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) at launch. A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), designated GAO-25-106856, describes Replicator as launched in August 2023 to accelerate the delivery of innovative capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale to solve an operational challenge in 24 months. More background on DIU appears in our guide to the Defense Innovation Unit.

Funding for Replicator must be separated from overall DIU appropriations. According to GAO, DIU's available Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding was $86.983 million in fiscal year (FY) 2022, $185.046 million in FY2023, and $983.163 million in FY2024. That FY2024 total reflected a 431 percent increase, which included approximately $589 million for DIU fielding efforts, but these reflect DIU-wide totals rather than Replicator-only figures.

For Replicator-specific funding, CRS report IF12611 documents three distinct funding lines. DoD submitted a $300 million FY2023 reprogramming request for Replicator. DoD secured $200 million in FY2024 appropriations, per CRS. DoD requested $500 million for Replicator in FY2025. CRS notes that little information is publicly available on Replicator's total cost and its effect on other programs. Additional context on budget accounts appears in our guide to the defense budget.

Publicly Named Vendors and Selected Systems

DoD released limited information on specific Replicator systems, citing operational security. DoD officials confirmed, per CRS, the selection of loitering munitions, uncrewed surface vehicles, uncrewed aerial systems, and counter-uncrewed aerial systems of various sizes and payloads. Officials also confirmed the selection of seven companies to provide software support.

On May 7, 2024, AeroVironment announced that its Switchblade 600 loitering munition system was selected for Tranche 1 of the first iteration of Replicator. AeroVironment stated that the first iteration will field thousands of autonomous systems across multiple domains within 18 to 24 months. CRS also references Ghost-X and Fortem among selections, and notes DoD reportedly completed a second tranche designated Replicator 1.2.

DoD has not published details regarding capabilities, employment, or targeting. This page states no contract value, quantity, or award date for any vendor. Profiles of emerging defense suppliers appear in our directory of defense startups.

Procurement Mechanics and Acquisition Speed

GAO documents that, under 10 U.S.C. 4022 and 10 U.S.C. 3458, DIU awards prototype agreements under Other Transaction (OT) authority. These OT agreements are exempt from many federal procurement regulations. Readers can examine these mechanisms in our guide on how defense procurement works, or review grant programs in our guide to SBIR and STTR funding.

DIU uses the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process to select technologies. GAO reports that CSOs typically take 60 to 90 days overall. The solicitation phase takes about 10 days, followed by 60 to 90 days for evaluation, pitches, and award negotiation. GAO found that for FY2016-2023, 85 percent of DIU awards exceeded the 90-day goal, averaging 172 days. From FY2016-2023, DIU awarded 450 prototype agreements with about $1.7 billion obligated, and 51 percent of completed prototypes transitioned to production awards. For Replicator, DIU used a CSO in January 2024 to scale small uncrewed surface vessels, issuing awards by August 2024.

External analysts have questioned whether acquisition structures can sustain these timelines. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on October 19, 2023, military analyst Bill Greenwalt stated that the acquisition system is not capable of acting on Replicator's proposed timelines except in very limited circumstances and when conducted outside the normal rules of acquisition. CRS also cites the valley of death between prototype and fielding as a known DoD challenge.

Replicator 2, DAWG, and Status in 2026

Replicator expanded into a second initiative before organizational structures shifted. On September 27, 2024, a memo from then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin launched Replicator 2, focused on counter-small-uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS). On August 27, 2025, Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo consolidating Replicator 2 resources into the newly created Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) for C-sUAS. DoD announced its first Replicator 2 acquisition on January 11, 2026.

Although Replicator was planned to field thousands of systems by August 2025, according to one former defense official cited by CRS, only hundreds had been fielded by then. In July 2024, the DoD Inspector General announced an investigation reviewing the effectiveness of selected systems.

Organizational designations appear in budget records and defense reporting. In CRS report R49023, the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG) appears as a named initiative of the Office of the Secretary of Defense in FY2027 budget analysis. Separately, press reports say the Replicator portfolio moved from DIU to DAWG, reportedly within U.S. Special Operations Command (not verified against a primary DoD document). Readers should check current DoD announcements to confirm organizational alignments.

CRS report R49023 lists the DAWG FY2027 DoD request as $53.6 billion, with the DoD FY2027 request including mandatory funding for drones. Press reports cite a figure of about $54.6 billion, and the two figures differ across sources. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) reported fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), S. 4784, section 837, would limit DAWG funds until certain mandated reports are submitted.

Issues for Congressional Oversight

CRS report IF12611 identifies key issues for Congress regarding the Replicator initiative. These issues include: adequacy of information available to Congress; cost and funding sources; effectiveness of selected systems; technical, schedule and cost risk; ethics and international commitments; and personnel and force structure.

Readers can examine the DoD Comptroller Overview Book and legislative committee reports for official budget updates on autonomous systems.