The US military is 'alarmingly slow' at delivering new weapons, making it tougher to keep its edge against top threats, watchdog finds

Ella Sherman
·3 min read
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  • GAO reports DOD is troublingly slow at delivering new weapon systems to keep up with threats.

  • Despite reform attempts, DOD's bureaucratic hurdles and workforce issues hinder timely tech delivery.

  • GAO urges DOD to adopt better practices and clear objectives to stay on top.

The Department of Defense continues to struggle to quickly deliver new technologies, a watchdog agency argued in a new report published Monday.

Significant national security threats are continuing to emerge and evolve, but the "DOD remains alarmingly slow in delivering new and innovative weapon system capabilities," the Government Accountability Office wrote it its Weapon Systems Annual Assessment.

Though the Pentagon plans on investing trillions of dollars into weapons development and acquisition, the GAO says the delivery of these new technologies is not happening quick enough.

The US Navy is a prime example of the challenges the military is currently facing. Most of the sea service's biggest shipbuilding projects are delayed by years, putting new weaponry way behind schedule at a time when rival China is rapidly expanding and improving its navy.

The Department of Defense introduced reforms in 2020 related to acquisition policies in hopes of speeding up the lengthy and overwhelming bureaucratic acquisitions process; however, "slow, linear development approaches persist," according to the GAO report on these issues.

The GAO said that the concerning delays within the Department of Defense are linked to issues related to the department's workforce, modernization efforts, and security.

One thing the GAO noted is that a majority of the acquisitions programs did not regularly report its scheduling of important cybersecurity evaluations to be completed at the proper phases of development or ahead of time for planned transitions, which puts acquisitions at risk of vulnerabilities that could then affect the delivery schedules.

Additionally, the Department of Defense's acquisition programs have had difficulties hiring and retaining a sufficient workforce, especially in software-focused fields.

The agency also explained in its assessment that the timeframes acquisitions programs provide for certain projects, such as 10 years to produce initial capabilities for a warfighter, are simply "incompatible with maintaining military advantage."

The accountability agency made clear in its report that the Department of Defense must work quickly to address its stagnancy as foreign powers such as China and Russia actively aim to become more dominant forces militarily.

China, known as America's "pacing challenge," has "greatly strengthened its military capabilities over the last 20 years and its stated goal is to have a 'world-class' military by the end of 2049," the report said. And "Russia is increasing its military capability and seeks to expand control over portions of the former Soviet empire."

The GAO offered several recommendations, encouraging the Department of Defense to address how its acquisition programs apply best practices for product development, present objectives for its software workforce, and identify tactics and materials required to meet those objectives.

"DOD concurred with the software workforce recommendations and partially concurred with the remaining recommendation," the agency said.

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