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US reforms its defence acquisition system to focus on commercial capabilities

21st August 2025 - 11:27 GMT | by Flavia Camargos Pereira in Kansas City, Missouri

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Test with an unarmed Minuteman III. (Photo: US Air Force)

This shift is planned to accelerate the procurement and fielding of capabilities. As part of this strategy, the US also intends modernise its regulations in an attempt to change its bureaucratic and risk-averse culture.

The US is set to undertake multiple lines of action to reform its defence procurement system as it looks to prioritise the purchase of commercial solutions. By shifting its focus from exquisite, unique military capabilities, the country’s defence decision-makers will attempt to accelerate the acquisition and fielding of systems, platforms and technologies.

This approach involves addressing issues that have been causing its major programmes to take more than a decade on average to complete, according to GAO data, as well as provide warfighters with an initial capability at a time when China has been fielding advanced systems within months.

“I recognise there

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