https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated August 20, 2024
DOD Replicator Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress
Introduction
Replicator, unveiled on August 28, 2023, is a Department
of Defense (DOD) initiative, led by DOD’s Defense
Innovation Unit (DIU), to field thousands of uncrewed
systems by August 2025. Replicator’s first line of effort
(“Replicator 1”) is to field all-domain, attritable
autonomous (ADA2) systems. Attritable systems are
comparatively low-cost systems with which DOD tolerates
a greater degree of risk of system loss. DOD officials state
that future lines of effort may focus on other types of
uncrewed systems. A key issue facing Congress is whether
to approve, reject, or modify DOD’s funding requests for
Replicator, and whether Congress has adequate information
about Replicator to assess its merits and conduct effective
oversight of the initiative.
Background
DOD officials state that the Replicator initiative draws from
lessons learned in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, in
which Ukraine has leveraged large numbers (estimated by
observers to be as many as 10,000 per month) of low-cost
attritable systems to counter the Russian military’s
advantage in force strength. Deputy Secretary of Defense
Kathleen Hicks—who, with the Vice Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, oversees Replicator—has stated that
Replicator is intended to “help [the United States]
overcome [the Chinese military’s] advantage in mass: more
ships, more missiles, more forces.”
DOD officials describe Replicator as an all-domain
initiative that could include autonomous aerial, ground,
surface, sub-surface, and/or space systems representing a
range of capabilities and mission sets. For example, Deputy
Secretary Hicks stated that Replicator could include
“distributed pods of self-propelled ADA2 [sensor] systems”
to provide near-real time intelligence, “fleets of ground-
based ADA2 systems delivering novel logistics support …
or securing DOD infrastructure,” or space-based ADA2
systems to provide resilient communications.
Intent
Replicator is to deploy uncrewed systems en masse,
allowing the U.S. military to disperse combat power over a
large number of relatively inexpensive systems. Replicator
is intended to
• avoid concentrating U.S. combat power into a smaller
number of individually more expensive platforms (i.e.,
help avoid putting too many eggs into one basket);
• make it harder for an adversary to target and neutralize
U.S. capabilities; and
• create an unfavorable cost-exchange ratio for the
adversary, meaning a situation in which the adversary
would need to use a countermeasure, such as an
interceptor missile, that has a much higher cost than the
Replicator system against which it is directed.
Some observers have stated that, depending on the
capabilities of Replicator systems, the Replicator initiative
could lead to the development of new military concepts of
operation, such as swarming. Swarming is a form of
cooperative behavior in a group of uncrewed systems, in
which the uncrewed systems autonomously coordinate with
one another to accomplish a mission. Swarming would
likely require further advancements in artificial intelligence
and/or networked communications to be deployed.
DOD officials state that, in contrast to large and
individually expensive systems such as aircraft carriers,
Replicator systems are intended to be built and deployed
more quickly, and to be used for significantly shorter
periods of time before being replaced by successor designs.
(They emphasize, however, that Replicator is intended to
supplement—not replace—more exquisite systems.) These
officials state that Replicator is thus intended to improve
DOD’s processes for rapidly scaling, fielding, and
innovating new capabilities. They note that Replicator is
also intended to accelerate the development of the U.S.
drone industrial base.
Specific Replicator Capabilities and Systems
DOD has released only limited information about specific
Replicator capabilities or systems due to what DOD states
are operational security concerns. Deputy Secretary Hicks
has stated that DOD intends to reveal details about the
Replicator initiative, including information about specific
capabilities and systems, “at a time and place and manner
of our choosing.” To date, DOD officials have confirmed
the selection of AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600 loitering
munition as well as unspecified “uncrewed surface vehicles,
uncrewed aerial systems, and counter-uncrewed aerial
systems of various sizes and payloads.” Anduril’s Dive-LD
uncrewed undersea vehicle is reportedly also among those
selected.
Status
DOD has reportedly completed the second tranche of
selections for Replicator 1 (i.e., Replicator 1.2). These two
tranches, one official stated, are likely to focus on software
to enable system collaboration “to create lethal effects and
respond to a very dynamic environment against different
threats and … different adversary platforms.”
As the lead for the Replicator initiative, DIU hosted a
technology summit in February 2024 “to provide industry
with more detail about broad Replicator opportunities, and
