Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Orders Streamlined Procurement for Tactical Ground Combat Fleets

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued an executive memorandum on Tuesday overhauling Pentagon acquisition procedures, directing service chiefs and procurement directors to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles that delay the manufacturing and field deployment of tactical combat systems.

The directive, announced during a high-profile tour of major Midwest defense fabrication facilities, signals a concerted push by the Department of Defense to modernize its industrial supply chain in response to global inventory demands.

Overhauling Pentagon Acquisition Cycles Under the newly established "Fast-Track Combat Delivery" directive:

• Major defense acquisition programs for non-nuclear ground combat platforms will be subject to a strict 24-month cap from initial requirements drafting to low-rate initial production (LRIP).
• Service branches are instructed to grant commercial defense innovators and non-traditional suppliers expedited security clearances and prototype testing slots on military proving grounds.
• Contract auditing will shift toward fixed-price production agreements to disincentivize cost-plus margin expansions that historically inflated major weapons systems.

"Our warfighters in the field cannot wait a decade for procurement committees in the Pentagon to finalize red tape," Secretary Hegseth told assembly workers and military officers. "Speed, reliability, and domestic industrial capacity are lethal advantages. We are cutting through decades of institutional inertia to ensure our troops receive the finest equipment manufactured right here in the American heartland."

Congressional and Industry Scrutiny Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees voiced mixed reactions to the initiative. While lawmakers from manufacturing states commended the focus on heartland jobs and munitions scaling, government accountability watchdogs stressed the necessity of robust operational testing to guarantee battlefield resilience.

Defense officials confirmed that the Pentagon will establish a dedicated Rapid Acquisition Oversight Council to review quarterly production metrics and brief congressional committees on safety and cost compliance.