America’s Trillion-Dollar Failure: The Pentagon Is Broken, but Congress Can Fix It

Foreign Affairs  |  Ro Khanna

The United States Department of Defense faces a severe acquisition crisis as slow procurement timelines and massive budget overruns leave the military lagging behind adversaries in critical modern technologies. Despite spending over $1 trillion annually, the Pentagon struggles to field hypersonic weapons, autonomous drone swarms, and missile interceptors, threatening its ability to deter great-power conflict.

This systemic inefficiency stems from the rapid consolidation of the defense industrial base since the 1990s, which reduced dozens of competing contractors to just five dominant firms. To counter this oligopoly, Congress must leverage its legislative authority to enforce open systems architecture, expand the organic industrial base, and restrict stock buybacks for underperforming contractors. Additionally, expanding multiyear procurement contracts for critical munitions and scalable unmanned systems will secure supply chains and double production capacity. Ultimately, shifting resources away from legacy platforms like the A-10 aircraft and littoral combat ships toward combatant commands will ensure the nation capably deters threats in vital theaters like China.

Comment

New Delhi must draw critical lessons from the American defence acquisition crisis as it expands its own domestic military-industrial complex under the 'Make in India' initiative. Relying on a highly consolidated cartel of private defence giants risks replicating the cost overruns and production bottlenecks currently plaguing the Pentagon. Instead, the Indian Ministry of Defence should actively cultivate a diverse ecosystem of medium enterprises and tech startups, similar to the US Defense Innovation Unit model, to maintain competitive pricing and rapid technological iteration. This approach is vital to sustaining long-term deterrence against China along the Line of Actual Control.

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