Pentagon Overhauls Acquisition System: Hegseth Launches “Warfighting Acquisition System” to Prioritize Speed

In a landmark speech delivered at the National War College, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a sweeping Pentagon acquisition transformation, formally replacing the long-standing Defense Acquisition System with a new Warfighting Acquisition System (WAS). The changes, he said, will streamline procurement by prioritizing speed, accountability and outcome over traditional process compliance.

Background

For decades, critics have argued that the Pentagon’s acquisition process has been weighed down by bureaucratic procedures, cost-plus contracts, and slow decision-making. In response, Secretary Hegseth laid out an ambitious reform plan grounded in speed to capability—a principle he described as critical to keeping pace with emerging threats.

What Changed: Key Reforms

1. New Organizational Structure
Hegseth announced that Program Executive Officers (PEOs) will be replaced by Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs). These PAEs will oversee multiple programs and be given “sole accountability” for cost, schedule, and performance trade-offs.
According to Hegseth, PAEs will not be bogged down in layers of approval: they will be empowered to make rapid decisions—and judged by mission outcomes. Their tenures will be extended: four-year appointments with possible two-year extensions.

2. Bureaucracy Cut, JCIDS Ended
A central part of the overhaul is the elimination of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), which Hegseth described as “slow, bloated and disconnected from reality.”
Its replacement includes:

• A Requirements and Resourcing Alignment Board, to align money with top warfighting priorities;
• A Mission Engineering and Integration Activity, intended to bring together government, industry, and labs early for prototyping;
• A Joint Acceleration Reserve, a pool of funding to swiftly move promising solutions from concept to field.

3. Contracting Reform
Under the new model, Hegseth called for a shift away from cost-plus contracts toward fixed-price contracts, with incentives structured around on-time delivery.
The Pentagon will also favor commercial technology first—even if it means fielding solutions that are not yet fully mature—and then iterate.
To further drive this change, the department plans to expand the use of Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs) and Commercial Solutions Openings to work directly with a broader vendor base.

4. Risk Culture Shift
Rather than penalize risk, the new system encourages calculated risk-taking. Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey emphasized that PAEs will have greater flexibility to reallocate resources or change course midstream if they believe a different path will better serve warfighters.
“There will be a shift from a culture of compliance to one of calculated risk,” Duffey said, while noting that the department is not mandating speed for its own sake.

5. New Incentives & Accountability
To reinforce speed and performance, the Pentagon will issue portfolio scorecards that measure how quickly capabilities reach the field.
If PAEs fail to deliver, there will be “real consequences,” according to Hegseth.
Additionally, the Pentagon is standing up a Wartime Production Unit, led by a “deal team” tasked with negotiating directly with vendors across portfolios and crafting performance-based incentives.

Policy and Industry Perspectives

Hegseth’s announcement drew praise from industry groups, such as the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). According to a statement shared in press coverage, AIA President Eric Fanning called the reforms “an ambitious, long-needed overhaul of warfighting acquisition.”

From a policy standpoint, analysts see the change as a bold shift towards a wartime footing for acquisitions. Jerry McGinn, director of the Center for the Industrial Base at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that this transformation “means the department must take more risk… emphasizing a focus on speed and scale.”
But McGinn cautioned that “implementation and resourcing” will be key.

Congressional momentum supports the reforms. Hegseth noted that some of the changes align with bipartisan legislation: the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense Act in the Senate and the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery Act in the House.

What This Means: Implications Going Forward

The Pentagon acquisition transformation marks a sea change in how the U.S. military plans to buy, build and field critical capabilities. By giving more power and flexibility to senior program leaders, the department aims to reduce delays that have traditionally slowed acquisition cycles from years to potentially a single year for some projects.

The reforms also open the door for nontraditional suppliers, including commercial tech firms and startups, to compete more effectively with legacy defense primes.

However, the success of this transformation will depend on how well the department can execute the plan: ensuring PAEs deliver against their new scorecards, that the Joint Acceleration Reserve is properly funded, and that the Wartime Production Unit can scale capacity quickly. Experts warn that changing culture and incentives is difficult, especially in a long-established system.

What’s Next

With the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in play, many of Hegseth’s speed-first reforms are expected to receive congressional backing.
Over the next six months, the Pentagon will roll out implementation guidance for portfolio executives, modular competition approaches, and adaptable test strategies.
If successful, this acquisition transformation could reshape the U.S. defense industrial base—making the Pentagon faster, more flexible, and better aligned to meet 21st-century threats.