Pentagon testing gap leaves most fast-tracked US weapons untested
A US watchdog found the Pentagon gutted its independent weapons testing office, risking the deployment of flawed systems that European allies depend on.
The Pentagon’s push to deliver weapons faster has left the vast majority of its fast-tracked programs without independent oversight, according to a US Government Accountability Office report released June 30.
The office responsible for verifying whether new weapons work as intended is currently tracking just 15 of roughly 110 active programs using a streamlined acquisition pathway designed to bypass traditional testing steps. Overall, the office’s oversight list collapsed from 265 programs in fiscal 2024 to 173 in fiscal 2025, a sharp break from years of stability.
The gap stems from a reorganization ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in May 2025, which slashed the testing office from 126 authorized civilian positions to 30. Staffing partially recovered to 45 by September 2025, but the cuts forced the elimination of two entire directorates, including the unit covering missile defense systems.
For European governments and defense contractors, the shift alters the risk profile of transatlantic procurement. The GAO found that staff reductions created specific expertise gaps in electronic warfare oversight. This increases the likelihood that American systems reach warfighters with “undocumented shortfalls related to effectiveness, suitability, survivability, or lethality.”
Hegseth has framed the rollback of oversight as a necessary tradeoff to modernize the military. “We mean to increase acquisition risk in order to decrease operational risk,” he said in a November 2025 address, adding that “Speed to delivery is now our organizing principle.”
A memo on the cuts projected $300 million in annual savings and claimed the changes would “improve the lethality, readiness, and efficiency of our Armed Forces.”
The new US acquisition model forces European allies to weigh interoperability against the risk of integrating less rigorously tested hardware. If Washington accepts unverified shortfalls in its own systems, European defense ministries may face increased risks when purchasing American equipment, or face pressure to lower their own testing standards to match the Pentagon's pace.
Lawmakers have pushed back against the changes. Senator Jack Reed called the restructuring “reckless and damaging,” warning it exposes troops to untested systems. Furthermore, the testing office missed a congressional deadline to report on how the reorganization affected its work.
The GAO has asked lawmakers to consider explicitly writing fast-tracked programs into the office’s legal mandate. Such a move would prevent the military from using rapid prototyping pathways to sidestep live-fire testing requirements written into law.
