DoD & DOGE - Procurement/Structure Impacts

[Ol Paint]

It looks like things may get interesting in the defense sector, so here's a topic to cover the various initiatives, primarily related to procurement, force structure, and the like.

Doug 

Edited February 22 by Ol Paint
Grammar

[Ol Paint]

A couple items to kick off:

Quote

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/02/pentagon-seeks-to-shift-50b-in-planned-funding-to-new-priorities-in-fy26/

“The Department will develop a list of potential offsets that could be used to fund these priorities, as well as to refocus the Department on its core mission of deterring and winning wars. The offsets are targeted at 8% of the Biden Administration’s FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs aligned with President Trump’s priorities.”

Breaking Defense obtained a portion of Hegseth’s memo, which lists 17 “offsets” which “may not be included by services and component in their eight percent decrease” recommendations. Those are:

• Southwest Border Activities
• Combating Transnational Criminal Organizations in the Western Hemisphere
• Audit
• Nuclear Modernization (including NC3)
• Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs)
• Virginia-class Submarines
• Executable Surface Ships
• Homeland Missile Defense
• One-Way Attack/Autonomous Systems
• Counter-small UAS Initiatives
• Priority Critical Cybersecurity
• Munitions
• Core Readiness, including full DRT funding
• Munitions and Energetics Organic Industrial Bases
• Executable INDOPACOM MILCON
• Combatant Command support agency funding for INDOPACOM, NORTHCOM, SPACECOM, STRATCOM, CYBERCOM, and TRANSCOM
• Medical Private-Sector Care

 

 

Quote

 

https://news.usni.org/2025/02/20/virginia-subs-some-surface-ships-safe-in-new-pentagon-fy-2026-budget-review

...While not its own line item, the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is understood to be “safe from cuts” as part of the nuclear modernization line item, two legislative sources told USNI News. For the last decade, the replacement of the sea-based portion of America’s nuclear triad has been the Pentagon’s number one acquisition priority....

...The Constellation-class frigate, which is facing years of delays due to ongoing design changes and workforce challenges at the Marinette, Wis., yard, may also be in trouble."

“It’s an easy kill. They haven’t started really building it yet. They’ve done some work on the first hull, but it’s easy to stop that at this point,” Clark said of the frigate. “They’d be deferring a bunch of potential future costs without losing a bunch of money that’s already been spent.”

 

 

Quote

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics/pentagon-firings-review/index.html

The Pentagon announced Friday it plans to ultimately fire five to eight percent of the military’s approximately 950,000 civilian employees, with an initial tranche of 5,400 probationary workers who don’t have “mission-critical” roles expected to be terminated next week.

 

As noted in the USNI article, some of the items not included in the list of priorities are interesting--NGAD and naval aviation, a definition of "executable" surface ships, Army aviation & ground combat systems.  As noted in the opening post, it looks like things may get interesting, fast. 

Doug 

Edited February 23 by Ol Paint
Reformatted for readability. And to add commentary IAW forum rules.

[futon]

If CCAs are linked up with F-35s, would a 6th gen fighter not be needed?

[Dawes]

Wonder if the new XM7/XM250 small arms will be considered expendable?

[Laser Shark]

Probably not all that much to be gained from that, but on the other hand, "many streams can make a river".

[bojan]

LMG part is interesting, even if lightness was done by "goldplating" approach, by using titanium parts etc vs real engineering sollutions.