Pentagon will pick new US base location by June 2027, prioritizing 4 requirements

The Pentagon is planning a new, highly hardened joint military installation inside the United States. Dale Marks described it as more than a base: “this is building a city.” The project responds to new military technologies, cyber threats, and changing strategic competition. It would combine military operations with housing, utilities, schools, hospitals, and other support systems.

States must submit broad plans and site nominations by Dec. 1. The Pentagon will compare them using four main factors: land area, population support, self-sufficiency, and public-private partnerships. Officials want sites generally ranging from 100,000 to 250,000 acres, although compelling alternatives could be smaller or larger.

Marks and his team will discuss each proposal with state leaders and examine detailed concepts, including fences, housing, hospitals, schools, and support infrastructure. A selection panel is planned, and the president might participate. The location is expected to be selected by June next year, while a 2028 budget request should include initial funding.

A joint military installation is a shared base designed to support operations involving multiple military services or functions. This project would be broader than a conventional base. It would combine troops, families, hardened command facilities, power systems, housing, and testing areas in one resilient location.

Marks identified several planned capabilities. They include autonomous uncrewed strike wings, directed-energy and counter-drone brigades, hypersonic maneuvering units, and “SI-driven” joint operational task forces. The installation would also support future formations with “autonomous mass” capabilities, including drones and directed-energy weapons.

The goal is to create an operational formation built around disruptive technologies and multi-domain missions. The article does not identify the participating military services or explain “SI-driven” in detail. It does show that the base would connect combat forces, command shelters, munitions storage, tactical proving grounds, and power-projection capabilities in a single installation.

The Pentagon is seeking a very large site, generally between 100,000 and 250,000 acres. Marks said that range is a target, not an absolute rule. Officials may consider smaller or larger properties if they offer especially compelling advantages. The unusual flexibility reflects the project’s broad mission and support needs.

The installation must house and support 15,000 to 25,000 active service members and their families. Altogether, roughly 80,000 to 100,000 people could live and work there. The population would need homes, schools, hospitals, utilities, digital systems, and other community services.

Marks called the effort “building a city” because military facilities alone would not be enough. State proposals may include community-built housing and support infrastructure. They could also offer existing hospitals or new schools for the installation. The final design, including whether the military builds houses, will be worked out with each nominee after Dec. 1.

The Pentagon argues that a new hardened installation is necessary because several threats are intensifying at once. Hegseth cited rapid advances in disruptive technologies, growing strategic alignment among peer adversaries, and persistent, sophisticated cyber intrusions. Together, these pressures could expose weaknesses in ordinary military facilities and national infrastructure.

The proposed base is meant to counter threats across multiple domains, including cyber, energy, air, and advanced weapons operations. Its design would include hardened command shelters, resilient power systems, protected munitions storage, and autonomous capabilities. These features would help it continue operating even when civilian systems are disrupted.

The article does not identify specific rival countries or particular cyberattacks. Instead, it describes a broad strategic problem and a planned response. The Pentagon wants a modern installation that can maintain strategic deterrence, support new operational formations, and remain ready during severe attacks or a catastrophic national grid collapse.

The proposed installation is designed to operate independently of civilian power and water systems. Its required infrastructure includes on-site small modular nuclear reactors, hardened microgrids, and closed-loop systems that capture, treat, and recycle water. Together, these systems are intended to make the base self-sufficient for an indefinite period.

The key test is demanding. Within its first 24 months, the base must demonstrate that it can sustain 30 continuous days of full combat sortie generation while completely disconnected from civilian grids and power supplies. Nuclear reactors would provide on-site energy, microgrids would distribute and protect it, and water recycling would reduce dependence on outside supplies.

Marks said that if the continental United States suffered a catastrophic grid collapse, the installation would remain “100 percent operational.” The article does not provide reactor designs or construction details. It does make resilience a core selection requirement and ties future funding to building this independent operating capacity.

The Pentagon wants states to propose public-private partnerships that reduce the government’s total cost. The idea is to divide the installation into military missions and supporting infrastructure. Government funding would focus on capabilities directly tied to combat and defense operations, while commercial investment would support systems used by the wider installation.

Potential Defense Department responsibilities include the combat mission, power-projection capabilities, subterranean command shelters, munitions bunkers, and tactical proving grounds. Commercial capital could build and operate supporting digital infrastructure. Communities might also build houses, provide hospitals, or construct schools as part of their agreements with the military.

The exact division would depend on each state’s proposal. Marks said his team will work through detailed concepts after nominations arrive, including where fences, housing, hospitals, and schools should be located. No cost estimate exists yet because no site has been selected. However, the expected 2028 budget request should contain an initial funding “wedge.”

Strategic deterrence is the effort to prevent an adversary from attacking by showing that aggression would not achieve its goals. It depends on credible military capabilities, readiness, and the ability to respond. The article connects the proposed installation to this goal by describing it as a way to maintain strategic deterrence against multi-domain threats.

A resilient base could strengthen deterrence by protecting command functions, power, water, weapons, and advanced forces from disruption. Its planned systems include hardened microgrids, small modular reactors, recycled water, subterranean command shelters, and autonomous formations. If the civilian grid failed, the base would still be expected to generate combat sorties and remain operational.

That endurance could make the installation a more dependable military asset during a crisis. The article does not claim that the base alone would prevent an attack or specify how an adversary might respond. It does show the Pentagon wants survivability and continuous readiness to support deterrence.