The Space Development Agency launched its first two batches of operational satellites last fall in what was supposed to be the start of a 10-month campaign to populate its proliferated data transport and missile tracking constellation. Six months later, the agency and its vendors have ...
Acquisition reform
The Department of the Air Force plans to establish around 27 "portfolio acquisition executives" and grant them far greater authorities and responsibilities for supporting and sustaining the systems they acquire, Secretary Troy E. Meink said in a keynote address to kick off AFA’s Warfare Symposium ...
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
Following the Trump administration’s call for defense companies to prioritize investments in production capacity and technology development over shareholder payouts, some of the Pentagon’s largest prime contractors say they’re attempting to strike a balance between the government’s needs and investor demands.
The Space Force plans to award initial contracts as soon as next month for a fleet of small, maneuverable satellites designed to monitor activity in geosynchronous orbit that could be online as soon as 2030, service officials said Jan. 23.
House and Senate lawmakers say they’re on board with the Pentagon’s latest plan to reform the way it buys new systems, but in a report accompanying the latest draft of fiscal 2026 defense spending bill, they urged more investment in the defense acquisition workforce and ...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth foot-stomped the Pentagon's push for acquisition speed and contractor accountability in a Jan. 12 speech at Lockheed Martin’s production hub in Fort Worth, Texas—the heart of the department’s biggest acquisition program, the F-35.
The Department of the Air Force announced seven new mission area-focused portfolio acquisition executives for the Air Force and Space Force, some of the department's first steps to implement Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's sweeping acquisition reforms.
Space Force leaders say that while they’re eager to implement the Pentagon’s newly announced acquisition transformation strategy, civilian personnel cuts and a prolonged government shutdown have depleted the acquisition and contracting workforce, adding to pressures on the cadre that could make it difficult to hit ...
When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rolled out an expansive acquisition reform agenda earlier this month, he promised aggressive implementation and reorganization aimed at transforming the way the Pentagon develops and fields weapons and platforms. The plan appears to have been well-received by past administration officials and ...
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major ...
The Pentagon is readying a slew of reforms to its acquisition practices designed to speed up the military’s process for buying weapons and systems and structure its program offices to prioritize competition and commercial capabilities, according to a draft memo.