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.
Satellites at the center: Inside the Pentagon’s next-gen space architecture
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
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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America needs next-gen solutions to counter modern air and missile threats
Defending a country the size of the US from threats requires advanced sensing, communications and interception capabilities.
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.
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Winning the cognitive domain — A methodology built for democratic constraints
The challenge for Western democratic institutions is not a lack of capability — it is a structural one.
Pentagon acquisition chief pledges new ‘program czars’ will cut red tape, not add to it
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey outlined key steps taken since an early November mandate to move out on acquisition reform.
The sabotage of Secretary Hegseth’s acquisition reform initiative
AEI's Bill Greenwalt breaks down key changes between the draft and final version of Pete Hegseth's acquisition memo - and finds some startling shifts.
Commercial innovation, not government production, will win the drone war
Inside the 2026 NDAA is a proposal to create a government-owned production facility for drones. Nadia Schadlow at the Hudson Institute explains why that’s not the best way to make drones at scale and at speed.
The defense industry ‘conned the American people and the Pentagon’: Army Secretary
"So what we are trying to do is flip it to 90 percent [of purchases for the military] being commercially available and 10 percent being specific in the worst of cases," said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.