Project Meridian: What the Study Is, Who Leads It, and What It Does Not Decide

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers the State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Sept. 30, 2026. DoW photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann via DVIDS. Public domain. Photo source

The Department of Defense has commissioned MITRE to lead Project Meridian, an initiative focused on the technologies and operational concepts that could shape future warfare.

MITRE says the project will bring together outside business leaders, policy experts and technologists to inform strategic recommendations for the Department of Defense. The organization lists Newt Gingrich, Palmer Luckey and Elon Musk as co-directors, alongside a broader participant group.

What Project Meridian Is

Project Meridian is an advisory study. Its stated job is to examine future warfighting needs, emerging technologies and possible operational concepts, then develop recommendations for the Department.

That gives the group a role in shaping ideas and priorities. It does not make the group itself a procurement office or turn its recommendations into contract awards.

Recommendations Are Not Procurement Decisions

A recommendation can influence what officials consider next, but a later acquisition decision is a separate government action. Requirements, funding, competition, contracting authority and award decisions follow their own processes.

So the useful sequence is: study → recommendation → agency decision → procurement. Collapsing those stages can make advisory influence look like authority the project has not been shown to possess.

What the FFRDC Rules Require

MITRE operates federally funded research and development centers. Federal Acquisition Regulation 35.017 says an FFRDC must operate in the public interest with objectivity and independence, remain free from organizational conflicts of interest, and disclose its affairs to the sponsoring agency.

Those requirements establish a governance standard for the FFRDC relationship. They do not, by themselves, answer every question about the outside individuals participating in Project Meridian.

What Is Still Unclear

The public Project Meridian description identifies the leadership and participants, but the materials reviewed for this article do not spell out the participant-specific ethics, disclosure or recusal rules that apply to each outside member.

That is a legitimate question to follow as the project develops, especially if later recommendations overlap with technologies or companies connected to participants. An unanswered governance question is not proof that a conflict has occurred.

What to Watch Next

The most useful next records will be the project's formal recommendations, any publicly released charter or participant guidance, and the later agency decisions that accept, reject or modify those recommendations.

How to Separate Advice From Government Action

For a broader guide to separating authority, evidence, process and consequences, read Authority, Evidence, Process, Consequences.