Hegseth says he wants the Pentagon to prioritize speed over cost when buying weapons

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday the Pentagon is revamping how the military buys weapons, shifting the focus away from producing advanced and complex technology and toward products that can be made and delivered quickly.

Hegseth, speaking to military leaders and defense contractors in Washington, said the “objective is simple: transform the entire acquisition system to operate on a wartime footing, to rapidly accelerate the fielding of capabilities and focus on results.”

Hegseth gave his address, which ran for more than an hour, at the National War College. It delved much more into military minutia than a previous big speech to hundreds of military leaders abruptly summoned to a base in Virginia, where he declared an en