Army's Five-Year Plan Outlines a $25 Billion Shift in Weaponry
- Proposal calls for ending or reducing 186 existing programs
- Army leaders urge industry to focus on the coming ramp-up
A U.S. Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) soldier climbs a rope from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during an International Special Operations Forces capacities exercise in Tampa, Florida, on May 23, 2018.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
The U.S. Army’s new five-year defense plan would end or reduce 186 existing weapons programs and shift an estimated $25 billion to new core areas, a transformation likely to spawn fierce congressional debate and industry lobbying.
“Everything we are laying in place right now by 2028, if all goes well, you’ll see these things roll off and roll into units,” Army Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview. Esper and General Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, spent months on what they called “night court,” where they operated as judge, jury and sometimes executioner over about 500 programs.