The Need for Speed: Transforming Defense Procurement for a Dangerous World

The United States faces the most dangerous security environment since World War II. China’s military buildup, Russia’s war in Ukraine, Iran’s proxy warfare, and North Korea’s nuclear provocations demand that America maintain a credible deterrent and a decisive warfighting edge. But the US defense acquisition system is too slow, rigid, and bureaucratic to deliver critical capabilities to warfighters at the necessary speed and scale.

The Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery (SPEED) Act is a bipartisan initiative led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) to overhaul the Pentagon’s broken acquisition system. Rather than working around systemic constraints, the SPEED Act tackles defense acquisitions challenges head-on by cutting red tape, accelerating timelines, increasing competition, and empowering decision-makers.

Join Hudson Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Dan Patt for a discussion with Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Smith about the SPEED Act and why fixing defense acquisition and reviving the defense industrial base are essential to meeting America’s national security challenges.