CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. (AP) 鈥� The U.S. Army said Friday that it is opening up test ranges to private companies developing missiles, drones and other weapons in hopes of buying them more quickly .
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters at a military testing range in Michigan that the effort will cut months and sometimes years of the red tape that typically stifles military contractors. He pledged to grant companies access to ranges in the U.S. or those belonging to allies abroad within 30 days of them making a request through an online marketplace that went live Friday.
鈥淚t can take 12 to 18 months for a company that wants to go test the thing that can make a soldier鈥檚 life better, that can increase their lethality and that can keep them safer,” Driscoll said. “That is not sufficient.鈥�
The announcement comes as warfare rapidly changes around the globe, from the swarms of Shahed in the Middle East to while defending against Russia’s invasion. But the Army is also opening its ranges as the Pentagon grapples with , which has that sometimes cost millions of dollars for a single missile or interceptor.
Driscoll told The Associated Press that policy changes such as making test ranges more accessible were driven in part by his and how quickly that country has moved to produce new weapon systems. The Army secretary had been between Russia and Ukraine last year before those negotiations stalled.
Pentagon leaders have been trying to by incentivizing smaller companies to enter the market to build cheap and effective weapons. Driscoll told reporters that the Army aims to 鈥渂reak down every single barrier that we have put up over the last 20 or 30 years.鈥�
鈥淲e are inviting industry to get in the mud with our soldiers, to innovate, to invest behind them,鈥� Driscoll said in a roundtable call. 鈥淎nd then our commitment as an Army is we will purchase the things that will make our soldiers more lethal, more safe, and keep our country safer.鈥�
The first company to take advantage of the new program has tested a new cruise missile at the Army鈥檚 missile test range in Morocco.
Abby Denburg, an executive with Covenant Industries, said the company 鈥渄emonstrated not only the performance of the Anthem missile but also a repeatable pathway now available to every company.鈥�
The program allows drone and missile companies to use five Army ranges to test new rockets, drones and anti-drone weapons even if that company does not have a military contract.
The effort to get weapons faster to the battlefield comes as a recent think tank analysis found that the conflict with Iran has used up more of the U.S. military鈥檚 of advanced interceptors such as and that are used to defend against air threats such as missiles and drones.
The analysis, conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also noted that this shortfall could force the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defenses.
President Donald Trump has pushed back on media coverage about the issue, telling reporters Thursday that 鈥渨e need more all the time.鈥� He claimed that certain kinds of munitions are in 鈥渧irtually unlimited supply鈥� and others are 鈥渁 little bit tighter.鈥� He didn鈥檛 offer more specifics.
Driscoll deflected questions about the nation’s munitions stockpiles. He said that 鈥渨e have a larger arsenal than any nation in the history of the world, and we will have an even larger arsenal with new and different and layered defenses.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.
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