US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memorandum on the "transformation" of the US Army. Among other things, the document provides for the disbandment of some units, the cancellation of purchases of outdated systems, and the merger of several internal organizations, Breaking Defence reports.
Among the measures is the merger of the Army Forces Command (AFC) and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) into a new organization.
Other steps include orders to "reduce and restructure manned attack helicopter formations and augment with inexpensive drone swarms capable of overwhelming adversaries."
It also refers to "divest outdated formations, including select armor and aviation units across the Total Army (Active, Reserve, National Guard)."
"To build a leaner, more lethal force, the Army must transform at an accelerated pace by divesting outdated, redundant, and inefficient programs, as well as restructuring headquarters and acquisition systems," the memorandum signed by the minister states.
US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said at a press conference at the Pentagon that such changes are necessary to respond to modern threats.
"We've seen in wars around the world that equipment simply can't provide soldiers with what they're expected to, and yet it keeps showing up year after year," he said.
Breaking Defense has a document that certifies that the changes fall under the Army Transformation Initiative. It will include three key areas: "deliver critical warfighting capabilities, optimize our (US -ed.) force structure, and eliminate waste and obsolete programs."
An Army spokesman confirmed that the service will stop production of the Humvee and the next-generation Joint Light Tactical Vehicles. General Dynamics Land Systems will also be ordered to stop production of its new M10 Booker light tank.
The US Army is also planning to retire its AH-64D helicopters. However, it is not yet clear whether it will decide to replace them with the newer AH-64E models.
These are initial cuts, and more are expected in the coming months. Work on the second round of transformation has already begun.