DOD kicks off review of major defense acquisition programs as Hegseth touts reforms

Pentagon officials launched a review of “all 72 active major defense acquisitions programs” this week to determine changes or cancellations that could be made based on President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that aims to transform how the government buys equipment and services for military and civilian personnel, according to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

“We must have high-performing, mission-aligned programs at every level,” Hegseth told students and staff at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania Wednesday.

During his address, he spotlighted ongoing reform efforts Defense Department leadership is pursuing in the early months of the second Trump administration, and other near-term plans to invest in next-generation warfighting capabilities.

“We are rapidly moving ahead on one of the president’s campaign promises, which is a Golden Dome for America — a nationwide missile defense system to protect Americans from the threat of nuclear, hypersonic and conventional weapons here in our homeland. Another incredibly exciting program is the newly announced and already launched F-47 [fighter jet]. It’ll fly faster, further, more stealthy and more lethal than any fighter jet in the history of mankind,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth’s remarks come as the Pentagon is implementing multiple disruptive initiatives to cut what the administration views as wasteful spending, rapidly reduce the size of the federal workforce and rewrite regulations and policies that are considered stifling to innovation.

“Over the past 100 days, we’ve been assessing the department from top to bottom to ensure that we’re getting more, faster, better and more efficient. Last month, we published guidance to the acquisition workforce — sounds wonky, but it’s very important — reinforcing the software acquisition pathway as our preferred model. We have to be able to get what we need and when we need it,” he noted.

With support from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is run by billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk, Hegseth said the Pentagon has also identified $5.1 billion in savings so far. 

“And that’s just the beginning. We’re ending contracts for business process consulting, enterprise cloud IT services — duplicative IT services. Massive contracts that no one ever looks at, where people push a lot of paper and make a lot of PowerPoints and give a lot of consulting work, but it doesn’t manifest in any meaningful way for the warfighter, so we can use that money for better health care and mission critical programs, from process to people, from consultants to corporals,” Hegseth said.

Notably, in his speech the secretary did not address the mounting criticism he’s currently facing associated with his repeated use of the non-government messaging app Signal to share sensitive information about recent high-stakes military strikes.

“Under the leadership of President Trump, the message to our adversaries in these first 100 days in office has been undeniably clear: America is back at the Defense Department. That means no more distractions, no more social engineering, no more climate change worship, no more electric tanks, no more gender confusion, no more pronouns, no more excuses, no more quotas, no more woke bullshit that undermines commanders and command climates. We are laser focused on our mission of warfighting,” Hegseth said.