WASHINGTON — On Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is set to announce significant reforms in the Pentagon’s approach to purchasing weapons, aiming to expedite the acquisition of technology as global threats continue to escalate.

Hegseth is slated to present these changes to a gathering of industry leaders, military commanders, and officials at the National War College. He will outline the overhaul of the Defense Acquisition System, which aligns with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in April, according to a draft memo reviewed by Reuters.

The initiative addresses what Pentagon officials describe as the “unacceptably slow” pace of procurement. They attribute this sluggishness to fragmented accountability and misplaced incentives that have hindered the military’s capacity to swiftly deploy new technologies.

Industry giants like Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and RTX (RTX.N) are expected to join the event, alongside emerging players in the defense sector such as Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O), Ursa Major Technologies, maritime drone producer Saronic, and electronic warfare specialist Epirus.

The restructuring will introduce Portfolio Acquisition Executives who will possess direct oversight of key weapons programs, aiming to cut through red tape and streamline decision-making processes.

The acquisition chain will run directly from program managers to these portfolio executives to military service branch acquisition leaders, with no intermediate approval layers.

The reforms require at least two qualified sources for critical program content through initial production.

This is the latest in a series of reforms.

Earlier in the year, the Pentagon changed how it purchased software.

Commercial products will become the default acquisition approach, streamlining the solicitation process, the memo says.

The changes also call for time-indexed contract incentives that reward early delivery and penalize delays proportionally.

The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, will chair monthly Acquisition Acceleration Reviews to track implementation, remove barriers, and monitor defense industrial base competition.