A bipartisan House bill is seeking to restructure, streamline and modernize the Department of Defense’s acquisition system to accelerate technology and weapons procurement for warfighters under the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill.
SPEED Act Details
Introduced by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash., on Monday, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery Act, known as the SPEED Act, would reform the defense acquisition system, which they said is paralyzed by bureaucracy.
“Our military is saddled with a bureaucratic acquisition system that is so dysfunctional that the process between identifying a need to deploying it in the field can take more than a decade,” Rogers said. “By that time the threat has changed, the technology is outdated, and the program is over budget.”
According to Smith, the SPEED Act would cut through red tape, encourage innovation and streamline the decision-making process to immediately put necessary tools and materials in the hands of service members to respond to rapidly evolving scenarios and help strengthen national security and defense.
The SPEED Act introduces five key pillars for reform:
- Aligning acquisition to warfighter priorities and operational outcomes
- Accelerating the requirements process
- Striking a balance between regulation and efficiency
- Strengthening the defense industrial base and leveraging commercial innovation
- Developing a mission-oriented defense acquisition workforce
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