The real threat to US security? Defense industry grift

The Department of Government Efficiency is expected to save between $1 trillion and $2 trillion, a pledge made by Elon Musk himself. Now, Musk has turned his attention to the Pentagon, an institution notorious for government waste.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently partnered with the DOGE to cut 8% from the Pentagon’s budget — roughly $50 billion annually — over the next five years.

Reducing military spending will require more than just cutting obvious waste, fraud, and abuse.

The Department of Defense is overdue for a DOGE-style overhaul. Defense contractors profit from no-bid contracts and inflate costs by “gold-plating” weapons systems with unnecessary features. The procurement system remains so outdated that it still relies on fax machines.

Reducing military spending will require more than just cutting obvious waste, fraud, and abuse. Hegseth should work with the DOGE to eliminate inefficiencies wherever possible, but he must also be prepared to take on more controversial reforms.

One major step would be canceling the Constellation-class frigate. The Pentagon placed its first order for these warships in 2020, aiming for a quick and cost-effective solution to fill a gap in the Navy’s capabilities. The ships were supposed to be lightly modified versions of the European Fregata Europea Multi-Missione, with the first expected to enter service in 2026.

Excessive modifications to the European design have drastically increased the Constellation’s weight and cost, however, erasing the efficiency gains that justified the project. The Wisconsin shipyard responsible for production now estimates that the first frigate won’t be ready until at least 2029.

The Navy plans to purchase at least 20 Constellation frigates, each costing over $1 billion. Canceling the order and relying on the Navy’s existing fleet of capable destroyers could save more than $20 billion immediately.

The F-35 is another prime target for budget cuts. Lockheed Martin’s $1.7 trillion fighter jet is the most expensive defense program in world history, yet barely half of all F-35s are combat ready or mission capable. After two decades of development, the aircraft remains riddled with issues, forcing Lockheed to halt deliveries to the Air Force for a year in 2023.

The design itself is flawed. The F-35 cannot “supercruise” (sustain supersonic speeds without afterburners), has limited range, carries a small payload, and lacks the maneuverability of many peer aircraft in dogfights. Just this month, the U.S. canceled an F-35 demonstration at the Aero India airshow after Russia’s Su-57 impressed the crowd. Scrapping the demonstration at the last minute sent an embarrassing message: No matter how much money is poured into the F-35, it still falls short.

If the U.S. military is serious about maintaining air superiority, it should abandon the F-35 and focus on the Next-Generation Air Dominance and Collaborative Combat Aircraft programs.

President Trump has criticized the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, making it a prime target for the DOGE budget hawks. At the swearing-in of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Trump noted that the carrier, initially projected to cost $3 billion, has now ballooned to $17 billion. Technical failures — including unreliable electromagnetic catapults and malfunctioning weapon elevators — delayed full deployment for years.

Some defense analysts argue that these carriers, while powerful, are outdated for modern warfare. Emerging threats like drones and hypersonic missiles raise questions about whether these funds would be better spent on more relevant defense capabilities. In an era dominated by unmanned systems, satellite-guided ballistic missiles, and hypersonic weapons, continuing to pour money into this project is difficult to justify — even if it had remained on budget.

Cutting wasteful programs like the USS Gerald R. Ford won’t weaken America’s military strength or global presence. As Hegseth said when announcing the DOGE partnership, “The only thing I’ve cared about is doing right by our service members — soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians.” The best way to ensure the U.S. maintains, in Hegseth’s words, “the biggest, most badass military on the planet” is to eliminate wasteful spending.

As he put it, “With DOGE, we are focusing as much as we can on headquarters and fat and top-line stuff that allows us to reinvest elsewhere.” There’s nothing controversial about that.