Army selects four companies for new autonomous breaching program
The program aims to minimize troops' exposure to danger and ensure safe passage of follow-on forces, according to the Army.
Army makes new tweaks to acquisition portfolios, realigns autonomy office
The Army’s approach to acquisition portfolios, which is in flux after an overhaul in the fall, is to “keep what is working and change what is not,” a service spokesperson told Breaking Defense.
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Networked for the fight: Army aviation’s next advantage
As operating environments grow more complex, Link 16 provides instantaneous, mission-wide connectivity to ensure no aircraft flies alone.
Pentagon continues to ‘struggle’ with key weapons development timelines: GAO
The watchdog's annual weapons systems assessment revealed new details about high-profile programs, from Air Force One to Army missiles.
We must ensure the next war is won, not lost, in space. That starts with acquisition.
In his first op-ed since leaving service, Jim Slife, the former Air Force No. 2 officer, lays out how space procurement has been stymied in the past.
Feinberg should create a DRPM for drones
Amid the recent drone boom, the Pentagon needs to create a single solid framework for all of the relevant programs to be effectively managed under, Rebecca Grant of the Lexington Institute writes.
With Joint Innovation Outpost, Army ‘operationalized an acquisition cell’
Rather than episodic execution, the new JIOP aims to foster a more enduring set of industry experimentation for the XVIII Airborne Division and, officials hope, the wider Army.
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Europe’s military advantage depends on sovereign command of the ground truth
As NATO and European governments accelerate investment in space-based intelligence, decision advantage will depend on how quickly sovereign and commercial capabilities can be fused into a trusted operational picture.
Will private capital and disruption reshape the defense industrial base?
Private capital is pouring into defense firms, but unless the relevant stakeholders align, the surge may fail to produce proper returns, according to two op-ed authors.
For acquisition reform to succeed, the Pentagon needs civilian agency budget flexibilities
Secretary Pete Hegseth’s push for faster, more commercial defense acquisition will fall short unless Congress also gives the Pentagon the flexible budget authorities already available to civilian agencies, Bill Greenwalt writes.
Army’s enterprise contracting vehicles likely to speed procurement but not without risk
An expert and former defense officials told Breaking Defense that the service’s push to award high ceiling, prolonged contracts could speed up acquisition processes but ultimately only time will determine their effectiveness.
Requirements without factories: Why the Pentagon must reconnect design to production
New Pentagon reforms need to account for whether the industrial base can actually build systems at the desired scale, John G. Ferrari and Dillon Prochnicki write.
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Right sized for the fight, smaller Group 2 drones are solving for the limitations of larger UAS
It’s fuel cells, not batteries, that let Group 2 unmanned VTOLS fulfill many missions of larger Group 3s.
How the Air Force is revamping its acquisition shop with new ‘portfolios’
The fresh approach is meant to streamline weapons procurement and cut through bureaucracy, though details like exactly what authorities new Portfolio Acquisition Executives will have are being worked out.
Overhauling acquisition, production and procurement processes to rebuild the industrial base
As warfare evolves, the US defense industrial base must adapt to provide opportunity for non-primes.
From National Defense Strategy plans to acquisition overhaul findings: 2026 preview
The coming 12 months could shake up where US troops are positioned and new details about the Golden Dome initiative.
From Army contracting pause to Pentagon acquisition overhaul: 2025 review
In 2025, the Pentagon issued a series of directives giving the Army top cover to move out on a larger acquisition restructuring and host of program terminations.