Open Architecture and Faster Timelines: Fixing Pentagon Procurement
The budget for the Department of Defense (DOD), the government’s largest discretionary expenditure, accounts for approximately one-sixth of federal spending. Despite the need to spend each dollar effectively to enhance national security, its procurement system is failing to prepare the country for future conflicts and operates well behind the pace of modern warfare, as detailed in a November 18, 2025, Citizens Against Government Waste report.
The DOD’s procurement difficulties would be addressed with an accelerated acquisition timeline and greater reliance on commercial off-the-shelf products. The Trump administration is fortunately moving the process in this direction. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s March 6, 2025, memo directing the DOD to adopt the Software Acquisition Pathway, and the April 19, 2025, Trump administration Executive Order, directing the DOD to “rapidly reform our antiquated defense acquisition processes with an emphasis on speed, flexibility, and execution,” including a preference for “commercial solutions,” are significant developments to improve the procurement process.
The critical need for speed is evident in the procurement of drones, where the DOD is operating far too slowly. The war in Ukraine produced a remarkably swift tempo of drone advancements, including countermeasures such as fiber optic spools that connect drones directly to operators, and AI, enabling automatic engagement of a target.
The furious pace of offensive and defensive drone advancements means technology is being iterated upon in the space of weeks, rendering the DOD’s lethargic approach unworkable. Instead of engaging with one company over multiple decades to develop drone technology, as it has in the past, the DOD must adapt to a much faster timescale, regularly looking to the private sector for the latest technology, and updating its arsenal continuously.
The DOD is using the new initiatives to help fix the root problems behind its posterchild for acquisition inadequacy, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. For the next generation of aircraft, starting with the F-47, the DOD is pursuing an open architecture, or modular design, where a prime contractor and framework are established and individual components manufactured by other contractors are selected by the government and can be replaced in the future. In retaining more control over the program relative to contractors, the DOD will facilitate the incorporation of new technology from any source in the future without needing to redesign the whole aircraft.
According to Air Force Chief of Staff David Allvin during a May 20, 2025, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, future aircraft enhancements will arrive “at the speed of software, not hardware. [Upgrades] can come at the speed of our engineers understanding how fast to advance, versus dealing with the contractor and paying the extra cost.” A modular design will help the Pentagon to avoid what Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall described as the “perpetual monopoly,” that plagued the F-35, wherein the DOD is bound to one contractor’s timeframe and capacity in fixing the many problems encountered during development.
This modular method of contracting is also paying dividends in the development of a new Abrams battle tank. In September 2023, the DOD announced that it would replace the M1A2SEP with the M1E3, and initially projected that the tank would be fielded sometime in the next decade. However, the contract awarded to General Dynamics in May 2024 expedited this process by choosing an open architecture that will integrate a variety of systems and software as needed in the future. As a result, the first tank will roll out in 2026, with full fielding occurring within three years, well ahead of the initial timeline.
A modular platform sets the Army up for maximum flexibility to incorporate new technology as it becomes available, or to reconfigure the M1E3 for particular missions or environments. Contrast this with the disastrous approach the Army chose with the M10 Booker, where an illogical, overly designed process resulted in a light tank too large and heavy to be usefully airdropped, or indeed to be driven across eight of the 11 bridges at Fort Campbell, one of its host bases. The Army canceled the M10 in June 2025, with all Bookers sent to storage or the scrap heap.
The Pentagon appears to have grasped the need for change. While multiple former DOD secretaries emphasized moving faster and looking to the private sector during their time at the helm, the increasing use of open architecture for new equipment appears to demonstrate that the Trump administration is finally acting rather than talking. It would be wise to maximally pursue this strategy now and in the future.
