'Impossible to deal with': Pete Hegseth reveals the real culprit behind defense contractor delays

War Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it his mission to slash through red tape and streamline defense production. But in order to do that, Hegseth says the Pentagon needs to take a look in the mirror.

Blaze News traveled with Hegseth as he visited defense contractors like Anduril and General Dynamics during his "Arsenal of Freedom" tour Monday, hammering the importance of overcoming burdensome production delays. In order to embolden the hardworking men and women who build America's arsenal, Hegseth told Blaze News the Pentagon needs to take the first step.

'There's mazes of requirements.'

"A lot of the hang-up has been us," Hegseth told Blaze News. "So we've got to look at ourselves first. The way we do business — we've been impossible to deal with."

"A bad customer who, year after year, changes our mind about what we want or what we don't want, and then we make little, small technological changes, which makes it more difficult for them to produce what they need to produce on time. So we have to fix our own house first: provide clarity, simplify the system, allow more people to access it, give that steady demand signal."

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Whether it's building warships or acquiring the latest technologies for autonomous underwater vehicles, Hegseth acknowledged how often these projects often fall far behind schedule and go way over budget. In an attempt to combat this, Hegseth noted several DOW deals with defense companies like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin that facilitate investment because "they know we're going to be buying in the future."

"That's groundbreaking stuff. Our department's never done that. ... That's just good business. We haven't operated ... that way before."

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Like all other government agencies, Hegseth also pointed to bureaucracy and regulations as major hindrances for these defense companies.

"There's mazes of requirements that this department has traditionally put on different systems and platforms that are impossible to navigate, and by the time you navigate them, you're five years behind the actual technology," Hegseth told Blaze News.

"We're going to companies and saying tell us what you can do based on the parameters of what kind of capabilities we're looking for. ... Let's tailor it accordingly."

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