Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is seeking a $1.5 trillion defense budget and plans to reduce bureaucratic barriers to weapons procurement, giving defense contractors the certainty they need to invest in domestic manufacturing and expand hiring.
Hegseth made the comments during visits to U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and to Oshkosh Corporation in Wisconsin, which manufactures military vehicles including the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and the M-ATV.
"We will build the arsenal of freedom … and in the coming months, we will ensure that all of that $1.5 trillion is funded, so that our department, working with great companies like this one, can provide it," Hegseth said at Oshkosh.
Hegseth said the Pentagon's procurement processes have historically been hampered by excessive bureaucracy and risk-aversion. "Without stable demand signals, industry partners are unsure of how to proceed, when to build and where to invest in their own capacity," he said. He added that uncertainty has made defense contractors risk-averse, slowing production and driving up costs.
At Strategic Command, Hegseth told military personnel that investments in the command's capabilities are priorities within the $1.5 trillion budget request. Those investments include nuclear command and control systems, the Columbia-class submarine, the B-21 Raider bomber, and the Sentinel program to replace the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system.
Hegseth also said the Pentagon intends to expand the pool of defense contractors beyond the largest firms. "Our arsenal of freedom needs to expand. It can't just be five prime contract defense contractors," he said, calling for opening Pentagon procurement to more American companies. He cited Oshkosh's rapid development of the M-ATV during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying that speed saved lives and should serve as a model for future weapons development.