FORGED Can Strengthen National Security When DoD and Congress Move Together

America’s competitive edge has long been our ability to innovate and adapt faster than our rivals. From the earliest days of modern defense innovation to today’s advancements in robotics and uncrewed systems, that advantage has been the result of strong partnership between government and industry. Yet as our global competitors strive to achieve parity, and ultimately outpace the U.S., they are investing heavily in autonomy, artificial intelligence, and subsidizing their uncrewed systems industries. We risk falling behind if we do not reform how we acquire, integrate, and scale emerging technologies.

The current debate over the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offers Congress a critical opportunity to modernize defense acquisition and ensure that American innovation reaches the warfighter at the speed of relevance.

The Facilitating Optimal Reforms for Growth in Emerging Defense (FORGED) Act provides the most comprehensive approach yet to modernizing defense acquisition for the twenty-first century. The legislation is designed to reduce procurement bottlenecks, expand opportunities for nontraditional suppliers, and ensure that innovation can transition into programs of record in a timely and scalable way. By updating the tools available to the Department of Defense (DoD), the FORGED Act addresses the structural challenges that have long slowed the adoption of cutting-edge capabilities and created unnecessary barriers for industry. As DoD recalibrates internally, Congress is advancing FORGED toward the same goal on a parallel track, making alignment essential.

The House has already advanced the Supporting Procurement for Efficient and Effective Defense (SPEED) Act, which acknowledges the urgency of acquisition reform. SPEED is an important step, particularly in how it draws attention to the need for more flexible contracting and clearer pathways for innovators. FORGED, however, represents a more complete solution that broadens the scope of reforms across acquisition processes and contracting authorities to enable faster decision-making and more predictable demand signals. This wider scope is what makes FORGED uniquely valuable, not only to large defense contractors but also to startups and mid-sized companies that are at the leading edge of uncrewed and autonomous systems development.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of Defense has rescinded the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), signaling an effort to streamline internal decision-making about what to buy and how to field it. Taken together with the JCIDS rescission, the Congressional efforts show momentum and underscore the need for tighter coordination between congressional direction and departmental execution.

For companies across the autonomy ecosystem, the current acquisition system is not keeping pace with the technology cycle. In too many cases, companies that demonstrate game-changing capabilities in prototype programs face years of delay before receiving approval for scaled production. These delays are more than bureaucratic headaches, as they represent missed opportunities to strengthen deterrence and equip U.S. forces with the tools needed to counter adversaries rapidly fielding large numbers of attritable systems.

The value of FORGED extends beyond accelerating acquisition, as it will strengthen the resilience of the defense industrial base by widening the pool of trusted suppliers and supporting long-term U.S. competitiveness. It helps prevent overreliance on vulnerable supply chains and supports the long-term competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers. In practice, this means that companies developing secure uncrewed systems for defense can have greater confidence that there will be a pathway to adoption, and the DoD can have greater assurance that its investments are building capability where it is most needed.

The importance of this moment is clear in the uncrewed systems sector, where technologies are reshaping how militaries operate across every domain of conflict, from the skies above Ukraine to contested waters in the Indo-Pacific. These systems provide persistent surveillance, rapid strike options, and cost-effective ways to counter massed threats, but they also create risks if supply chains are dependent on foreign adversaries. The FORGED Act acknowledges these realities by calling for acquisition frameworks that reward secure, domestically produced solutions and accelerate the integration of uncrewed platforms into U.S. military operations.

AUVSI’s members represent every link in this chain of innovation, from large aerospace firms to small startups pushing the boundaries of autonomy. The consensus across our community is clear that the United States must move faster and more decisively to maintain leadership in the technologies that will define the future of security and commerce. The SPEED Act is a positive step in this direction, but the FORGED Act provides the depth and breadth of reform that can make a lasting difference. To deliver results, Congress and DoD must move in concert rather than in parallel.

The path forward is not only about faster contracting or broader authorities, but also about ensuring the nation’s industrial base is prepared to deliver during a period of historic technological change and intensifying global competition. The FORGED Act represents a commitment to continued global leadership, to resilience, and to the men and women who depend on American innovation for their safety and success. With better coordination between Congress and DoD, these reforms can achieve the outcomes both are seeking.

Michael Robbins is President & Chief Executive Officer at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the world’s largest trade association for uncrewed systems, robotics, and autonomous technologies, representing companies in both the commercial and defense sectors. He joined AUVSI in 2020 and previously served as Chief Advocacy Officer. Michael is also presently serving as an Officer in the United States Navy Reserve.