Amidst the hustle and bustle of the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration, the Pentagon quietly released a long-awaited piece of news: the implementation plan for PPBE reform. For those lucky enough not to know, PPBE stands for the DoD’s Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution process—essentially, the way the Pentagon buys stuff.
Bureaucratic bungle: Critics across the defense tech ecosystem have long said that PPBE is broken: it prioritizes primes and exquisite technology while stifling newer companies, emerging technologies, and innovation.
So, what does the plan actually include?
- A 2028 deadline for the implementation of PPBE reform
- Better align defense and budget priorities
- Improve comms between DoD and Congress
- Encourage data-driven decision-making
- Develop a “workforce of the future” literate in emerging tech
The question is, will it actually change anything? Elaine McCusker, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former deputy undersecretary of defense (comptroller), doesn’t think so.
“The plan’s proposed changes are piecemeal and incremental without real, substantive reform to the PPBE system or structure,” she told Tectonic via email. “Though the plan uses some vision language up front to connect objectives to warfighting outcomes, the proposed initiatives do not do so.”
Same old, same old: The plan falls short of the total overhaul needed to actually close the “valley of death” and scale critical emerging technologies, McCusker said. Despite highlighting the importance of data and artificial intelligence, the plan puts forth no substantial changes to prioritize the adoption of this technology. All in all, the plan is a bit of a dud.
Let’s see if DOGE can do anything about it.