On October 1, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Project Meridian, a study of the future of warfare co-led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich. Reporting since has established that it is a 120-day MITRE-run project of about 20 people, chaired by the three, with a report due in January that focuses on warfare in 2040 and 2050 rather than Pentagon operations. The 120-day limit is set by when special government employee status ends. Coverage still centers on the purge rhetoric in Hegseth's speech and on whether that trio counts as America's best minds. The study's full scope and staffing remain unreported.