WASHINGTON — During a hearing with Congress members, the Army’s top leaders shared details on the Army Transformation Initiative, which calls for cutting spending on stagnant programs, upgrading equipment and restructuring forces.
In April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Army leaders to prioritize building lethality and to eliminate unnecessary cost.
Following the success of Ukraine’s effective, low cost unmanned aerial systems attacks on Russia’s bomber fleet, Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll stated before lawmakers that the Army needs cheaper solutions to bolster U.S. Soldier lethality. Using more than 300 drones in a single swarm attack last week, Ukrainian forces dealt a catastrophic blow to the Russian military.
“At a cost of a mere tens of thousands of dollars, Ukraine inflicted billions in damage, potentially setting back Russia’s bomber capabilities for years,” Driscoll said Wednesday. “The world saw in near real time how readily available technology can disrupt established power dynamics. And drones are but one example of a broader shift. The Army needs to keep pace.”
As the service prepares to posture its Fiscal Year 2026 budget, Driscoll and Gen. Randy A. George, Army chief of staff, asked Congress for more “agile” or flexible funding to support unmanned aerial systems and counter-UAS initiatives that bolsters the force. The Army’s top officer said that the service cannot afford to be locked into a program of record but rather must purchase new technology when available.
“Technology is changing too rapidly,” George said. “We’ve got to be able to buy capabilities, not specific programs.”
To restructure the Army into a more efficient, combat ready force, George said that the service would cancel obsolete unnecessary programs that do not contribute to enhancing the lethality of Soldiers, including eliminating a budget request for more Humvees to be added to the service’s fleet of vehicles.
In May, the Army stopped funding to the M-10 Booker Tank, citing design flaws and concerns over its deployability. Instead of spending on programs like the M-10, Hegseth said the service will focus on drones and counter drones, “off the shelf” technology, and strengthening sensors and the Army’s network.
The service will also cut funding to the AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopters, removing Apache battalions from the active component. George said four Apache battalions will remain in the National Guard, which will eventually receive the AH-64 E model. He added that UH-60M Blackhawk, a medical evacuation aircraft, will replace the UH-60L and V models.
Driscoll also proposed giving the service more autonomy on repairing certain equipment immediately instead of waiting on defense manufacturers. Driscoll cited one example, where at one installation Soldiers could not use a piece of advanced technology for up to a year due to a missing piece. However, the Soldiers learned they could 3-D print the required part at a fraction of the manufacturer cost.
Army also plans to cut 1,000 positions from the Department of the Army staff and will move many Soldiers to more combat-related jobs, George said.
Upgrading Soldier training
For the first time, the Army Reserve partnered with active-duty Army units in the largest mass exercise of its scale, Mojave Falcon. Beginning May 28, over 9,000 reservists and active-duty Soldiers participated in the mass logistics training moving equipment and supplies across vast distances in northern and southern California.
“When not deployed, our units are conducting tough, realistic training at their home stations and at our combat training centers,” George said. “Our Army is a professional team that remains focused on its warfighting mission, and young Americans want to be a part of it. And this is evidenced by our strong recruiting numbers this year.”
The service announced it had met its recruiting goals early, welcoming more than 61,000 new Soldiers to its ranks, despite raising its recruiting goal by 10 percent from 2024.
The service recently began phase two of Transformation in Contact, or TiC, the service’s initiative where Soldiers rapidly train, equip and field new technology. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment from Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany and 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Georgia will take part in TiC 2.0, which, expands the scale to two divisions and two Stryker brigade combat teams. The Soldiers will incorporate UAS and counter UAS.
In January, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Johnson, Louisiana, successfully completed a TiC training rotation as part of Combined Resolve, an annual exercise hosted by U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa.
One TiC brigade that trained in Europe improved to 300 percent more effective in lethal targeting, George said.
“This was a great proof of concept,” George said. “It confirmed that our formations are capable of rapidly improving their lethality.”
“Transformation in contact taught us some valuable lessons about what our Army should be buying and how we should be buying it, and we’re just getting started,” George added.
By Joe Lacdan, Army News Service
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