U.S. Army soldiers handle a drone during a US military and NATO training exercise in Hohenfels, Germany, on Sept. 6, 2024. (Alex Kraus/Bloomberg)
The U.S. Army is looking to speed up weapons development and procurement to keep up with evolving technology and make sure new equipment isn’t out of date before it gets into the hands of American soldiers, the Army chief of staff said in an interview.
“We can’t say, hey, we’re going to buy something and it’s going to be ready two years from now, because we know the technology is going to advance beyond that,” General Randy George told Bloomberg Television.
“We’re trying to do a better job of explaining what we need, rather than have hundreds of pages of requirements to try to define what it is,” George said.
That vision looks to overhaul the Pentagon’s typical buying process, which a recent army report said can take an average of two years to meet approval and funding requirements.
One focus is buying cutting-edge weapons, including drones and electronic warfare systems, in smaller tranches instead of waiting on long-term purchase orders. The process has been piloted as part of an army initiative called “transforming in contact,” which looks to flood select brigades with advanced equipment.
The Army has worked with about two dozen companies including Anduril Industries Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc. and Elon Musk’s SpaceX as part of “transforming in contact.” The program started across three brigades earlier this year. Private-sector engineers have been invited into the brigades to work alongside soldiers as part of the initiative.
“It’s the ability to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the actual users of this system, to get feedback directly from them about what they like and what they don’t like,” said Chris Brose, chief strategy officer at Anduril. The army has purchased Anduril Ghost-X drones as part of the program.
George said he’s spoken with members of Congress as well as senior leadership at the Pentagon to make sure they’re on board with a flexible spending plan. “I think everybody understands that we do need to adjust and how things are changing,” he said. “I’m confident that we’re going to do this, because I don’t think we have a choice.
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