
The Defense Department is requesting $13.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 for autonomous systems and autonomy technology, the first time it has ever broken this out as its own category in the budget, a senior department official said on Thursday. The request includes $9.4 billion for unmanned and remotely operated aerial vehicles, $1.7 billion for unmanned surface vessels (USVs), $734 million for underwater systems, $210 million for autonomous ground systems, and $1.2 billion on software and technologies that network these…