Can the Trump administration overcome the Pentagon’s multiple capability integration issues?
Instruction and preparation for JADC2 operations at Fort Carson Army Base. (Photo: US Air Force)
Better integration of systems and sensors across the branches will be critical to ensuring deterrence and readiness.
The new Trump administration will face multiple challenges in plugging integration capability gaps in the Pentagon, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). Although the previous US leadership had conducted several initiatives in this domain, efforts to connect software, C4ISR and training across the services still require attention and investment, GAO noted.
Reduced levels of innovation and low speed to implement new solutions were among the main problems to overcome, with both directly related to the bureaucracy of the acquisition processes.
In its 2024 Weapon Systems Annual Assessment, the GAO stressed that, in the last 10 years, major defence acquisition programmes
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