The Pentagon wants its overhauled cadre of executives in charge of major acquisition programs to have enough flexibility and power to take calculated risks and focus on delivering new weapons speedily.
As part of the sweeping reform to the military’s acquisition processes that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled Friday, the Pentagon plans to transform program executive officers into “portfolio acquisition executives.” Those executives, who will oversee major weapons system programs, are meant to have more authority to shift course when they feel it is necessary.
“We intend to [give portfolio acquisition executives] greater flexibility when it comes to reallocating resources and trading requirements, in order to … [deliver] a system at speed and on time,” Michael Duffey, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said in a call with reporters Monday. That includes “an overall shift from a culture of compliance to one of calculated risk-taking.”
When asked about the potential for a faster acquisition cycle raising the possibility of increased risk to programs, Duffey stressed that while the department is “emphasizing speed, we’re not mandating speed.” This is a key reason the department aims to give portfolio acquisition executives more flexibility on resources and requirements.
“We’re continuing to be dependent on the judgment of program leaders who are executing these programs to understand where does the need for speed balance with the risk that we would undertake to cost and/or performance of the system,” Duffey said.
In his speech Friday, Hegseth said the Pentagon will be more willing to buy a system the provides “the 85% solution,” even if it is not meeting all requirements at first, and then improving it over time until it reaches full capability.
Duffey said Monday that portfolio acquisition executives could play a major role in deciding whether to go with a system that provides most, but not all, capabilities.
That executive “is basically accountable for delivering a system within a schedule, and with capability,” Duffey said.
“As he goes down the road of delivering that, he will likely discover where those two things come into conflict. And as a result of this process, we’ll be able to quickly facilitate a discussion with the right folks to find out, is it worth waiting for that extra 10% of capability? Or is it worth delivering it now and sacrificing that extra 10% of capability?”
The details on how this arrangement will work are still being worked out, Duffey said. However, he predicted portfolio acquisition executives will likely be able to make that decision on their own on lower-priority matters, but more important capabilities will require “a broader conversation.”
The Pentagon also wants to keep talented program executive officers, program managers, and those in other vital leadership positions in their jobs longer. That way, those leaders can stay long enough to have a more significant impact on their programs, and “benefit from the incentives and accountability that drives performance over longer terms,” the department’s acquisition strategy said.
Duffey said the department already has flexible contracting mechanisms such as other transactional authorities, or OTAs, in place it can make greater use of to make the acquisition process more nimble.
Two pieces of legislation — HR 3838, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery, or SPEED, Act and S 5618, the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense, or FoRGED, Act — have largely been folded into versions of the next National Defense Authorization Act.
The SPEED Act, which was proposed by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, aims to overhaul acquisition regulations and exempt smaller programs, giving program executive officers clear authority and budget flexibility while holding them accountable for success or failure, and creating a faster requirements process that focuses on the problem the system is trying to solve.
The FoRGED Act, introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., similarly aims to cut red tape, empower program executive officers, focus Pentagon contracting on more efficient commercial procedures, and encourage more sourcing for contracts.
Duffey said the provisions from those two bills included in the 2026 NDAA would help the department. As the department proceeds with its acquisition reforms, Duffey said he expects it will find more areas it needs congressional help with and he pledged to follow up with lawmakers.
“We’ve already gotten bicameral, bipartisan support for our initiative and a willingness to work with us on whatever additional authorities we need,” Duffey said.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
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