Pentagon chief Hegseth expected to unveil ‘aggressive agenda,’ major overhaul of weapons buying

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to unveil major changes Friday to how the Pentagon acquires and delivers weapons to its warfighters, with a new emphasis on speed that will potentially mark one of the most significant overhauls in decades to America’s military-industrial ecosystem.

Mr. Hegseth’s address at National War College in Washington on Friday afternoon, titled the “Arsenal of Freedom,” comes amid a widespread recognition inside national security circles that the often yearslong processes for approving, funding, prototyping and ultimately fielding weapons systems no longer work in the 21st century. Officials across the Defense Department, which President Trump has given the secondary title “War Department,” want to see dramatic changes and new pathways created for drones, missiles, vehicles, software and other tools of war to get into the military’s hands faster.

The Trump administration also wants to change the incentive structure for defense companies, rewarding them for delivering on time and under budget and potentially steering contracts away from firms that deliver late and exceed cost projections.

For Mr. Hegseth, sweeping acquisition reform could become one of his signature issues. It also could help blunt criticism from those who have questioned whether Mr. Hegseth is too focused on theatricality and not enough on key nuts-and-bolts issues of concern inside the Pentagon, in the country’s defense industrial base and scattered throughout the Defense Department’s nearly $1 trillion budget.

Analysts say Mr. Hegseth can and should seize a moment when virtually all stakeholders recognize that major change is needed.

“There is a broad bipartisan consensus that the United States’ defense acquisition system is far too slow and not responsive to warfighter needs, and that the industrial base sorely lacks the capacity to meet today’s security challenges. This has been amply demonstrated in repeated cost overruns of major programs and in the inability to quickly surge production to meet the demand for munitions to support Ukraine and Israel,” Jerry McGinn, director of the Center for the Industrial Base at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a recent analysis. 

“What is clear is that this is truly the hour of the industrial base,” he wrote. “The United States should seize the moment and revitalize the United States’ industrial capabilities and capacities to better prepare to face its national security challenges.”

The U.S. defense industrial base in recent years has struggled to refill its weapons stockpiles after large, continued weapons deliveries to its allies, namely Ukraine and Israel. There’s also a recognition that new programs aiming to deliver a specific capability — such as small tactical drones in large numbers — cannot take years before that capability makes it into service members’ hands.

The Pentagon has tried to address that problem through some specific initiatives, such as the Defense Innovation Unit’s Replicator program. Friday’s speech from Mr. Hegseth is expected to emphasize change on an even larger scale.

A leaked memo, first reported by Politico earlier this week, offered some insights into the specific changes Mr. Hegseth could roll out

Portfolio acquisition executives will largely manage the Pentagon’s new acquisition process, the memo says, overseeing numerous systems and shifting resources to support those deemed most essential.

Those executives will have an opportunity to receive “incentive compensation” if they deliver weapons and systems to warfighters on time.

PAE appointments will also be extended, with executives expected to serve for a minimum of four years. The extension addresses a major concern from the acquisition space, since the usual appointment length of two or three years was not enough to complete a project.

PAEs will use portfolio scorecards to track and grade the performance of an acquisition portfolio. The scorecards are expected to grade prototype development, operational capability, production ramps and schedules, according to the memo.

The new scorecards will be used to calculate business incentives for the defense industrial base, but only if they deliver on time. New time-indexed incentives will be used on contracts to reward contractors who deliver systems or platforms early.

Contractors who deliver late will face penalties, the memo said, but it did not provide further details on what those penalties would entail. 

Some defense industry leaders welcomed Mr. Hegseth’s new approach.

“We’ve embraced and invested in commercial products and business models for decades, adopting open architecture, scaling production and rapidly fielding innovative technologies. We are committed to expanding the commercial business model within a streamlined and less bureaucratic acquisition framework,” said Chris Kubasik, chair and CEO of the major defense company L3Harris.

“Through partnerships with new entrants and investments in venture-backed companies, we’re transforming cutting-edge technology into mission-ready capability — ensuring our warfighters have unparalleled solutions ready today,” he said in a statement Friday.

• Vaughn Cockayne contributed to this report.