US defence secretary Pete Hegseth demanded big defence contractors speed up weapons development and production or “fade away”, as he declared a new era of procurement competition.
In a speech on acquisition reform on Friday, Hegseth also called for unprecedented private investment in the defence industry and announced the formation of a specialised “deal team” to bolster the Pentagon’s weapons purchases.
As the secretary detailed plans for the Pentagon to speed up its notoriously slow and expensive acquisition process, he invited new companies to compete against defence heavyweights such as Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and General Dynamics.