As the military executes its strategy of “ divest-to-invest ,” it’s shedding equipment and procuring less to bring “leap-ahead” technologies online. While this may seem like a good strategy on paper (who doesn’t want the most advanced weapons systems?), the costs of pursuing brand-new, leap-ahead weapons instead of improving and buying what we have today have historically outweighed their benefits, at least for the past 40-plus years. Betting on new, built-from-scratch weapons and shedding current platforms before the new weapons have been built has put the United States in a dangerous position , potentially without what it needs to fight and sustain a major conflict. That’s the equivalent of burning the bridge behind you as an army attacks from straight ahead.
Overly bureaucratic and subject to an often glacially slow acquisition system , the military should pull the U.S. out of this dangerous position with a fresh set of ideas. One such idea comes from an unlikely source: the Marvel superhero movies. Grossing $28 billion across the 31 films in its cinematic universe, Marvel is a hallmark example of a successful franchise, possessing a careful balance of investment to keep its movies fresh while not deviating too much from the storyline.
So, what exactly does this rather unusual comparison have to do with the military? Well, the Pentagon should reverse its divest-to-invest strategy and instead fund new, incremental iterations and versions of its current weapons, similar to each new film in a movie franchise. As we detail in our new report , the Defense Department (DoD) should build and enhance America’s current world-class weapons systems, consisting of three main franchises: ground combat vehicles, rotary aircraft, and fighters. And, it should do so with the aim of producing more now for ourselves, to sell abroad, and to give the United States the capability and capacity we need to fight more than one war at a time and for an extended, lengthy time period.
The Pentagon should ditch new-build efforts like Future Vertical Lift and the Optionally-Manned Fighting Vehicle, and once canceled, the funds from these programs should be reinvested into two-year rapid block improvements to our current weapons systems franchises. This means more funds for greater production, and more upgrades, iterations, and spinoffs of platforms like the Black Hawk, Abrams, and F-16, all mainstays of their respective franchises. Commercial technology, such as artificial intelligence and driver- or pilot-assisted technology, would be key in those upgrades and spinoffs as it is commercial products that DoD must integrate to maintain an edge against China and other adversaries.
The benefits of committing to our already world-class weapons systems go well beyond upgrades. They provide exactly what America’s industrial base needs: production. As evidenced by the war in Ukraine, we don’t possess the ability to surge production , something that would be essential should a high-end conflict break out. Sticking with and producing better, upgraded versions of our existing platforms would put our defense industrial base on a path that meet the needs of our warfighters.
The success of the franchise model depends on foreign sales, as profit from those purchases can lead to more money for upgrade cycles. Moreover, such sales ensure greater interoperability with our platforms and those of our allies. And, as an added bonus, they create a larger parts base as well as common training, both essential for our own military capabilities and working in conjunction with our allies and partners.
Aside from a commitment to our franchise weapons systems, the U.S. can encourage the franchise model through setting aside funds to create a stockpile of exportable weapons. Such a stockpile would allow allies to buy off-the-lot instead of getting bogged down in the notoriously lengthy foreign military sales (FMS) process. At the same time, Congress can fast-track sales of franchise weapons systems by shortening the FMS process.
With the dangers of betting on untested weapons, and the risks of shedding equipment to make those bets, the U.S. military has a ready alternative with its franchise platforms. Committing to enhancing these, and to their sale to allies and partners abroad, will provide necessary warfighting capabilities, and in doing so, bring a revitalization to our defense industrial base. A potential future of drawn-out and costly acquisition failures is one that we cannot afford.
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This article originally appeared in the AEIdeas blog and is reprinted with kind permission from the American Enterprise Institute.
