Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth took office as U.S. Secretary of Defense in 2025, becoming the 29th person to hold the position. Before entering government, he spent years as a television personality and also served as an Army National Guard officer with deployments to Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

As Secretary of Defense, Hegseth holds oversight of the Pentagon’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme, which is developing autonomous drone wingmen to fly alongside crewed fighters. His decisions on European troop posture and autonomous systems acquisitions will shape how the U.S. military integrates robotic platforms into its force structure.