Pentagon Urged to Accelerate Defense Acquisition Reforms

"Perfect is the enemy of good." — Sam Mehta, President, Space & Mission Systems and Communications & Spectrum Dominance, L3Harris

Why Sam Mehta says the future of warfare is already here

Sam Mehta frames acquisition reform not as preparation for a distant future but as a reaction to conflicts that are already reshaping how wars are fought. He names three dynamics driving urgency: proliferated, low-cost unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that challenge high-cost platforms; an “invisible war” fought across the electromagnetic spectrum that degrades communications and radar; and the demonstrated ability of nations to scale rapidly, citing Ukraine as an example of a country that was initially outmatched but adapted and then began exporting technologies and tactics.

Mehta’s conclusion: the pace and character of current conflict demand acquisition processes that can deliver “good enough” capabilities now and iterate later, rather than waiting for “version 5.0.”

Department of War’s “commercial‑first” push and Secretary Hegseth

Mehta highlights a policy shift inside what he calls the Department of War (DoW): Secretary Hegseth’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy elevates a “commercial‑first” approach. The DoW is said to be broadening the definition of what counts as a “commercial item” to enable streamlined purchase pathways. That change, Mehta argues, is aimed squarely at delivering solutions to warfighters “at speed” and leveraging commercial acquisition processes to meet urgent needs more cost‑effectively.

Two barriers that traditionally slowed commercial adoption remain in Mehta’s account: concerns that commercial hardware won’t withstand wartime rigors, and procurement demands for cost and pricing data. He says improved market data and pricing analysis are reducing the second objection by giving procurement officials comfort they are paying fair prices.

Congress’s leverage: predictable funding and multi‑year agreements

Mehta presses Congress for stable, predictable funding that lets industry commit to capacity expansion. He singles out multi‑year acquisition as a critical tool for long‑cycle products such as solid rocket motors and satellites, where knowing demand over five, seven or ten years would incentivize investments in factories and deeper tiers of suppliers.

Mehta also notes one tangible policy movement: the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) threshold under the Truth in Negotiations Act increased from $50 million to $100 million — a change he treats as an important signal that reforms are taking hold.

L3Harris investments, supply chain depth, and the risk of a two‑tier market

At the company level, Mehta says L3Harris is “already investing billions of dollars to increase production of solid rocket motors for missiles and space‑based missile warning and defense payloads.” He frames those investments as precisely the kind of capacity Congress and the administration are trying to spur with acquisition reform.

But Mehta warns of a structural danger: applying reforms unevenly across industry—creating privileged “non‑traditional” contractor pathways while leaving “traditional” contractors largely subject to old requirements—would skew competition and spur talent migration. That bifurcation, he argues, would blunt competition, discourage some established firms from participating, and ultimately weaken the whole defense ecosystem. He stresses that reforms “have to be applied to the whole of industry.”

What this means for Congress, the DoW, warfighters, and small suppliers

• Congress: The central lever is funding predictability and authorizing multi‑year contracts so industry can justify long‑term capital investment and supplier development.
• The DoW: Implementing Secretary Hegseth’s “commercial‑first” approach requires broadening commercial‑item definitions and trusting market data to assess fair pricing, while shifting culture toward iterative fielding.
• Warfighters: The practical outcome Mehta advocates is faster fielding of “good enough” capabilities, with iterative upgrades informed by warfighter feedback rather than years of lab refinement.
• Small‑ and medium‑sized suppliers: These firms need long‑term demand signals to invest in people and facilities; multi‑year buys and clearer downstream demand will determine whether deeper tiers can scale.

Mehta’s prescription is straightforward and organizational: accelerate commercial pathways, widen the application of reforms across all contractors, and give industry the demand certainty needed to build capacity. The record of recent conflicts and a single regulatory shift — the CAS threshold change — provide momentum, but Mehta leaves one question clear and unavoidable: will policymakers translate bipartisan recognition of the problem into consistent, economy‑wide application of the reforms he says are required to field capability at the speed of war?

Original story — Breaking Defense