The broken defense system threatens military preparation for future wars

During World War II, US Maverx launched in the free market to solve our most difficult industrial challenges and build a war machine that has proven to be the Allied Winning Engine. This machine has served us well during the Cold War, but in the past thirty years, it stopped.

Today, we face the risk of losing our next major war, not because there is no courage or ingenuity, but due to the interruption of the defense acquisition system that was moved with bureaucratic sclerosis.

The Americans are constantly reading the headlines about the increasing threats Possible conflicts Our opponents also return quickly. At the same time, our defensive industrial base is related to the regulations that were built for the past.

The 2024 Congress report shows that America has faced its most dangerous global threats World War IIAnd we are sadly not ready to meet the demands of the struggle over the great power.

Tampering while Rome is burning: America ignores the Chinese Red Red Red Tide

While China has spent two decades increasing its army, the United States lost its industrial advantage, handed over risks and asserted the process on the results. The result is a restricted system that produces very little materials, very slowly and decreasing quality.

Reports indicate that the United States can exhaust long -range missile supplies and ships in less than a week of conflict with China. Pentagon It takes approximately 12 years to present the first version of a new arms system. Our forces are even using decades-old radio systems-what if you are using a contract with contracts?

Years of strict regulations in our industrial base, which was once gracefully, have diminished to a bureaucracy that advanced in the woods that fail to meet the needs of our fighters and national security services.

Reforming the way we develop, produce and spread weapons in the twenty -first century is not an option; It is inevitable.

Pentagon needs a great repair. Now our chance

To maintain the lightness of movement and deterrence, we must ship our military industrial base by stimulating the best actors in the private sector to invest in defense and manufacturing technology. Let them, not the government, lead the process to innovation and repetition and expand the scope of the latest capabilities. We do not need more companies that make dating applications and yoga pants; We need companies designed for Securing the future of America.

Forty years ago, many of the greatest companies in America had a health defense and Commercial divisions that created pollination between commercial innovation and governments. Now, they are debtors of the Byzantine contracting structure that, throughout the nineties, boiled our defensive industrial base to a small group of companies that contract only with the government and prevents commercial companies from participating in the defense industry initiatives.

For this reason, we support the dynamic technical defense reform initiative in this year’s national defense licensing law (NDAA) to break the stalemate, repair the incentive structure that prefers a handful of firm contractors, enabling new and innovative entrants in our defensive industrial base.

China exploits our government’s weakness in technology. We need a quick restart

While the traditional priority numbers are often sparked for its role in the recession of our defense acquisition, the fact is that it is what the Pentagon has made.

I have created contracts of regular inefficiency the model that we see today. The fiscal year 2026 NDAA takes important steps to address these problems.

First, the first “first” commercial “commercial” grace, which requires the Pentagon acquisition to give priority to commercial options for costly costly development programs. This can provide us with years of development and billions of dollars in tax.

Second, by narrowing the requirements in contracting with those required by law only, the fiscal year 2026 NDAA opens the doors for many innovative, large and small companies, who can participate in the defensive industrial base. This will save costs and enhance supply chains by ensuring that we do not rely on a group of subcontractors, so that our most important components of military equipment do not contain only one, perhaps two, suppliers.

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Finally, by fixing how Ministry of War Previous performance values, Congress ends the tyranny of work in the Pentagon. War management currently prefers headacher contractors over the latest startups – even those that offer superior solutions. The conduct of this change will lead to the stadium leveling with a focus on competition and improvement instead of the mentality “Do not shake the boat”.

These reforms will guarantee that our vibrant defensive industrial base is able to produce and repeat quickly – a condition for modern war. Take the war between Ukraine and Russia, for example. This conflict consumes thousands of drones, missiles and bombs monthly. The United States is struggling to make this many a year.

The quantity has all quality. We must make sure that we are able to not produce weapons and materials quickly, however Re -fill, re -tools and re -publish They quickly.

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The United States cannot simply wait until the next war begins to reform the broken acquisition system. We cannot sacrifice our national security on the bureaucracy altar.

It is now time for Congress to stimulate our defensive industrial base to meet the demands of the twenty -first century. Let’s go to work.

Click here to read more Sen. Tim Shihi

Catherine Boyle is a general partner in Andrink Horwitz and participated in its American dynamic practice.