Russian media reported on September 13th that the Pentagon is secretly developing 25 new classified weapons to counter China, citing analysis of the Pentagon's fiscal year 2026 budget report. According to the report, the US Department of Defense has allocated over $10.8 billion (approximately 76.95 billion yuan) for the development of 25 new classified weapons under a secret program named "SHOTCALLER," aimed at establishing rapid and overwhelming long-range strike capabilities against China as part of the so-called "Pacific Deterrence Initiative."
According to budget request documents, the Advanced Innovative Technology (AIT) project, as the largest component of "SHOTCALLER," has requested $1.16 billion in funding to advance the continued development of 25 classified weapon prototypes. The project has previously received over $9.6 billion in total funding across multiple projects of varying scales.
The "SHOTCALLER" program is managed by the Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office, which reports directly to senior Pentagon leadership. The AIT project allows the Pentagon to bypass traditional procurement channels and conduct rapid prototype testing across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force. Its core objective is to build a seamless "kill chain" that integrates long-range firepower, space-based moving target data, and multi-service joint operations to ensure US forces can execute rapid, overwhelming strikes in future conflicts.
These projects are equipped with highly symbolic code names, including "Asgard," "Black Marlin," and others. Some projects such as "Hurt Locker" and "Pele" have already received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding support in previous years, while new projects like "Lazarus" and "Legend" appear set to accelerate development in fiscal year 2026.
The Pentagon claims these efforts are designed to overcome shortcomings identified in previous combat experiments and prepare US forces for so-called "high-end conflicts" in the Indo-Pacific region.
Regarding US rhetoric promoting great power confrontation, China has repeatedly refuted such positions. On July 18th this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to related questions at a regular press briefing, stating that China has always viewed and handled China-US relations according to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, never engaging in vicious competition or great power confrontation, with no intention to replace or challenge anyone.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson also addressed negative US rhetoric about China in June, stating that in fact, the United States is the world's true hegemonic power and the greatest factor undermining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. To maintain its hegemony, the US has promoted the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy," deployed offensive weapons in the South China Sea region, and stirred up tensions in the Asia-Pacific area, turning the region into a "powder keg" and causing deep concern among regional countries.