Military acquisition officials say unmanned technology is maturing rapidly and purchases over several years will likely result in the Army acquiring outdated equipment.
Military forces around the world are developing and deploying drones and robots, and the systems pose a threat on land, sea, and air. The growing importance of unmanned systems has been on display for two years in Ukraine, where they are central to the Pentagon's secret replicator program.
During a discussion of the Army's fiscal year 2025 spending plan, Doug Bush, assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, said multi-year acquisitions are “not appropriate” for something as rapidly changing as unmanned aircraft systems. Maybe not,” he said.
“There are also a lot of new entrants in this field,” President Bush said at a Pentagon briefing. “Even if that company is good, committing to one will probably exclude other options because there is a lot of innovation happening in that space from new companies.”
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Multi-year procurement is typically used to secure large quantities of munitions. These are thought to incentivize defense suppliers to expect long-term demand and consequently increase production, saving costs by purchasing in bulk over the long term.
But Busch said using the same drone year after year is a different situation. Demand for technology can change not only from year to year, but from month to month.
“I don't know what I'm going to buy in a year, or whether I'll want to buy the exact same thing.” [unmanned aerial system] Five years,” Bush said. “One year we might be working hard on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and the next year we could be working hard on strikes.”
The Army's proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 totals nearly $186 billion, an increase of $400 million from the previous year. The service is requesting a base budget of $175.4 billion and an additional $10.5 billion for overseas operations.
This budget level also assumes Congress will pass additional funding to cover the cost of funneling military aid to Ukraine and support increased operations in the Middle East, Defense News reported.
