Stephen Feinberg, Trump’s pick for deputy defense secretary, vows to ‘review the value’ of Replicator

President Donald Trump’s nominee to be deputy secretary of defense told lawmakers that he’ll prioritize and advance the U.S. military’s autonomous capabilities portfolio — a top priority under the prior administration.

However, the billionaire investor stopped short of revealing any immediate plans to disrupt the Pentagon’s ongoing Replicator initiative, which includes efforts to field thousands of uncrewed systems by August 2025.

“If confirmed, I will work with the appropriate stakeholders to review the value of initiatives like Replicator,” Feinberg wrote in response to advance policy questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing Tuesday.

That answer came after lawmakers’ inquiry into whether “a separate process like Replicator [is] needed within DOD to address the most pressing investment areas,” or if the existing acquisition and management mechanisms are sufficient to confront contemporary urgent needs.

Feinberg noted that, in his view, Replicator “tailors the rapid acquisition pathway to ensure rapid acquisition and deployment for items urgently needed to react to an enemy threat or respond to significant and urgent safety situations.” 

“I believe the department must utilize all of the authorities available to acquire capabilities to meet the most pressing and urgent needs, to include the capabilities being accelerated through Replicator,” he wrote.

First unveiled by former deputy Pentagon chief Kathleen Hicks in August 2023, Replicator 1.0 was then billed as a key military technology and procurement modernization campaign designed to counter China’s massive, ongoing military buildup by incentivizing U.S. industrial production capacity and the military’s adoption of drones en masse — through replicable processes — at a much faster pace. DOD was largely secretive about the initiative since its inception.

DefenseScoop reported that the first two tranches of selections — dubbed Replicator 1.1 and 1.2 — encompassed a variety of maritime and aerial drones, and associated counter-drone assets selected for mass manufacturing. In September 2024, defense leadership announced that, building on that success and momentum, Replicator 2.0 would accelerate the high-volume production of technologies designed to detect and destroy enemy drones.

Since Trump was elected in November and tapped Feinberg to serve as the Pentagon’s No. 2, many questions have swirled regarding the new administration’s vision for Replicator and whether plans are in the works to transform or terminate it. 

Feinberg’s responses to lawmakers’ questions suggest his intent to continue to prioritize efforts to deliver capabilities to support the military’s most critical operational problems, at scale.

“My understanding is that the Replicator initiative has focused on two critical areas: Replicator-1 is focused on delivering thousands of all-domain attritable autonomous systems to [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] to counter the pacing threat posed by the People’s Republic of China, and Replicator-2 is focusing on countering the threat posed by small unmanned aerial systems to our most critical installations and force concentrations. Both of these operational problems remain pressing challenges and, if confirmed, I will continue to ensure the department focuses on delivering innovative capabilities to warfighters in line with the secretary’s priorities of rebuilding our military and reestablishing deterrence,” he wrote.

The high-stakes initiative was not a major focus during Feinberg’s confirmation hearing. But in response to questions from Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., the nominee pledged to frequently brief and update Congress on the department’s plan for Replicator, and drones writ large.

“In regards to [threats from] swarming technology, Replicator’s a very important program,” Budd said.

At another point while testifying, Feinberg also emphasized that autonomous technologies and assets like those enabled by the pursuit will be vital to the U.S. military’s ability to deter foreign adversaries in the near term.

“Clearly, we need to develop autonomy — autonomy in significant numbers, with a centralized command, effectively ‘brain.’ And we have to make the right decision on whether we need to build a next-generation aircraft, or we can rely on autonomy. Of course, we’ve got to improve our shipbuilding. China is very strong there. Our nuclear capabilities are old, we have to upgrade them. And we have to develop hypersonics,” Feinberg told lawmakers.

A full Senate confirmation vote for Feinberg has not yet been scheduled.