Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth has admitted that the United States is too slow in fulfilling arms contracts to its foreign allies and partners.
In a speech to the National Defense University in Washington on November 7, Hegseth stressed that the Pentagon and the American defense-industrial complex “need to improve“ the process for fulfilling arms contracts abroad.
“Our procedures are too slow, and our industrial base is extremely inefficient in fulfilling orders for allies and partners in a timely manner,“ Hegseth noted.
“We have not broken this system, but we will fix it. "Foreign arms sales under government-to-government and commercial contracts are important to the American industrial base and are critical to our global strategy," the Pentagon chief said. He added that the United States "must address these gaps and strengthen key supply chains."
Hegseth cited the Pentagon's upcoming reorganization of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Defense Technology Security Agency as a measure aimed at streamlining the process of delivering weapons to foreign customers.