U.S. Army to Embed Robots and Autonomous Systems Across Combat Formations by 2028.

The U.S. Army is creating the Futures and Autonomous Systems Command to integrate autonomous systems directly into combat and support formations, with priority capabilities targeted for fielding by fiscal year 2028. The effort is intended to move robotics beyond isolated experimentation and make autonomous systems part of regular operations across armor, artillery, aviation, engineer, and sustainment units.

The U.S. Army is restructuring how it develops and fields autonomous capabilities by placing them under FASCOM and linking technology development, acquisition, and force design more closely. The objective is to prepare multiple types of formations to operate autonomous systems as an organic part of their missions rather than as temporary experimental additions. By fiscal year 2028, the service expects priority capabilities to begin entering operational units across several branches.

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A U.S. autonomous tactical vehicle equipped with a remote weapon station is pictured during African Lion 26 at Cap Draa in Tan-Tan, Morocco, on April 26, 2026, where U.S. forces tested autonomous systems in multidomain operations. (Picture source: US DoD)

The decision therefore goes well beyond the establishment of another headquarters. The Army directs autonomy to be incorporated across at least six formation areas: aviation, armor, fires, sustainment, engineer, and training. In practice, this means preparing the force structure, personnel and command arrangements required to employ these systems routinely. An armored formation could operate robotic vehicles for reconnaissance or route clearance, while an artillery formation could use autonomous aircraft as forward sensors. Aviation units could meanwhile send uncrewed systems tens of kilometers ahead of their helicopters.

According to U.S. Army Public Affairs on October 2, 2026, Acting Secretary of the Army Adam R. Telle signed the memorandum establishing FASCOM that same day while directing changes to force structure, acquisition, and personnel. The move follows Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's announcement of a department-level Autonomous Warfare Command. FASCOM is nevertheless the Army-specific element of that broader effort and is intended in part to turn existing experimentation into capabilities that can be permanently incorporated into operational formations.

The timeline is particularly revealing. A Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Autonomy is to centralize priority acquisition efforts covering autonomous fires, autonomous combat vehicles, uncrewed watercraft for resupply, robotic breaching systems and reconnaissance, surveillance and target-acquisition capabilities. Crewed-uncrewed teaming is also explicitly included. The objective is to begin fielding these capabilities no later than fiscal year 2028, although the directive does not select a particular combat vehicle, drone, or weapon system.

Several existing programs already provide an indication of what this transformation could look like in the field. In February 2026, an AH-64E Apache launched an ALTIUS 700 Medium-Range Launched Effect during an experiment at Yuma Proving Ground. The Army describes Launched Effects as small autonomous or semi-autonomous aircraft that can carry different payloads for reconnaissance, electronic warfare or kinetic missions. In June, UH-60M Black Hawks also launched and controlled multiple medium-range effects, allowing their crews to remain farther from threats while sending sensors or effectors forward.

The same concept extends beyond aviation. The Launched Effects portfolio includes systems such as the AEVEX Atlas 600 for short-range missions, while the Army selected AEVEX, Griffon, and Dragoon to provide initial long-range capabilities. These aircraft are intended to launch from airborne or ground platforms to detect, identify, and potentially target threats. Conceptually, this reflects some of the same logic behind the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, although the Army is building its own approach around Launched Effects, tactical drones, and cooperation between helicopters, ground vehicles, and autonomous systems.

Sustainment is moving in the same direction. In March 2026, the Army awarded SURVICE Engineering a production contract for the Joint Autonomous Aerial Resupply System, designed to deliver cargo to dispersed maneuver forces while reducing dependence on ground convoys and crewed resupply missions. On the ground, six companies including Overland AI, Forterra and American Rheinmetall were selected for the Infantry Last Tactical Mile initiative. Their robotic prototypes are intended to support close-combat formations through autonomous resupply, casualty evacuation and network extension to troops operating near the forward line.

Operationally, the objective is therefore less about replacing soldiers than about increasing the number of sensors, vehicles and effectors a formation can employ without proportionally increasing human exposure. Ground robots could move ahead of armored units, Launched Effects could search for air defenses or enemy positions beyond line of sight, robotic systems could breach minefields, and autonomous cargo aircraft could sustain dispersed units. The new 390A Robotics Technician career field and planned expansion of 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems specialists also indicate that the Army is preparing the personnel required to operate and maintain this increasingly diverse robotic force.

FASCOM therefore points less to the arrival of one particular robot than to a change in the composition of U.S. Army formations themselves. A future brigade could combine crewed tanks and infantry fighting vehicles with ground robots, reconnaissance or strike drones, Launched Effects operating ahead of Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, autonomous sensors supporting artillery and uncrewed logistics systems. This human-machine teaming model echoes the logic represented in the air domain by Collaborative Combat Aircraft but extends it across several dimensions of land warfare. If FASCOM succeeds in institutionalizing these capabilities by 2028, the Army could move from formations that occasionally employ drones to units designed from the outset to maneuver with multiple categories of autonomous systems, with direct consequences for U.S. operational concepts and for how allies and potential adversaries organize their own forces.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests include security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.