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Weapons makers have 'conned' US military into buying expensive equipment, Army Secretary says
Army Secretary Driscoll announced a major acquisition overhaul to increase commercial procurement to 90%, aiming to reduce costs and speed delivery to soldiers, reversing prior military-specific purchases.
- This past week, Dan Driscoll, Army Secretary, accused large defense companies of having `conned` the U.S. Army, prompting a sweeping Pentagon acquisition structure rework, Breaking Defense reported.
- The service historically relied on a 90 percent purpose-built model, but Driscoll said the Army aims to invert the 90/10 split to about 90 percent commercial vendors and 10 percent military-specific systems.
- Concrete examples show cost disparities, such as a Lockheed-owned Sikorsky Black Hawk knob priced at $47,000 versus $15 independently, while the Army uses GM engines for ISVs and considers Caterpillar engines for the M1E3.
- The overhaul will cut senior ranks and shrink PEOs, consolidating leadership by reducing general officers at the top rank and contracting the 12 Program Executive Offices while Driscoll warned primes they will be barred from prior practices.
- Reuters reported last week the Army aims to buy at least a million drones in the next two to three years, accepting an `85 percent` solution approach and iterating to full capability, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
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Weapons makers have 'conned' US military into buying expensive equipment, Army Secretary says
Large defense companies have "conned" the U.S. military into buying expensive equipment when cheaper commercial options would have been available, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said.
·United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources9
Leaning Left1Leaning Right3Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
13%
C 50%
R 37%
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