Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, recently criticized the defense industry for being “mired in process” just like the government, Space News reported Sunday.

Speaking to contractors at last week’s Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala., Griffin called out his audience for practices that bog down procurement, recommending that such excess processes be shortened if not removed altogether.

“[Each] of you at every single level have to look at what you are doing and weed out that which you do not need to do and weed out the people who do not need to be consulted,” Griffin said.

Griffin pointed to China as a study in contrast, attributing the country’s ability to develop hypersonic weapons to speedy decision-making.

“What are they doing differently? They are not doing a lot of things that clearly do not need to be done,” Griffin remarked.

The undersecretary went on to advise his listeners “to identify … the key decision makers, the chains of command and empower them to decide quickly.”

President Donald Trump has signed into law a spending bill that allocates $616.9 billion for the Defense Department‘s base budget, $21.9 billion for Energy Department nuclear weapons initiatives and $69 billion for overseas contingency operations, CNBC reported Monday.

The fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act will fully fund the U.S. Air Force’s B-21 bomber project and allocate $7.6 billion in funds for the purchase of 77 Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter jets and $85 million for Sikorsky-made UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.

The measure includes $284 million in funds to support the U.S. Army’s integration of its Patriot missile defense platform with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and the procurement of 13 new combat ships, including a $1.56 billion budget for three littoral combat ships.

Trump said in his speech Monday at Fort Drum in New York that the fiscal 2019 NDAA authorizes more than 3,000 joint light tactical vehicles, 60 Bradley combat vehicles and 135 M1 Abrams tanks for the Army.

He noted the measure, which was named for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), will earmark funds to modernize the country’s nuclear arsenal and missile defense systems.

The president also issued a statement on the legislation’s several provisions, including the formation within the executive branch of an advisory commission that would provide recommendations and reports on the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in national security.

Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Defense Department should take advantage of commercial satellites and other space technologies to counter hostile hypersonic weapons, National Defense reported Friday.

“It’s not enough to just build elegant military constellations anymore,” Selva said Friday at an event hosted by Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

“We need to figure out how to hitch a ride. We need to figure out how to engineer that data into the systems to help do command and control in warfighting,” he added.

CNBC reported that Selva also discussed the hypersonic weapons from Russia and China and their threats to the U.S. military.

Russia unveiled hypersonic and nuclear weapons in March and sources told CNBC that two of the six weapons will be available by 2020.

Selva’s remarks came a day after Vice President Mike Pence announced plans to establish a new service branch and combatant command that would focus on space.

President Trump has announced Robert McMahon, assistant secretary for logistics and materiel readiness at the Defense Department, as his choice for the next DoD assistant secretary for sustainment.

McMahon, a more than 34-year U.S. Air Force veteran, previously served as president of Fickling Management Services and director of C-17 field operations at Boeing.

The retired Air Force major general held senior leadership roles at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, the Air Force’s logistics division, Air Mobility Command and 309th Maintenance Wing at the Ogden Air Logistics Center.

In his current position, he oversees logistics policies and processes that support warfighter readiness efforts as well as manages the department’s more than $170 billion annual budget for logistics operations.