The Department Of Defense Wants Less Proof Its Software Works
When Congress eventually reopens, the 2026National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA) will be moving toward a vote. This gives us a chance to see the priorities of the Secretary of Defense and his Congressional allies when it comes to the military-and one of those priorities is buying technology,especially AI, withless of an obligation to prove it's effective and worth the moneythe government will be paying for it.
As reported byLawfare, This year's defense policy bill-the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)-would roll back data disclosures that help the department understand the real costs of what they are buying, and testing requirements that establish whether what contractors promise is technically feasible or even suited to its needs." This change comes amid a push from the Secretary of Defense to Maximize Lethality" by acquiring modern software at a speed and scale for our Warfighter." The Senate Armed Services Committee has alsoexpressed interestin making significant reforms to modernize the Pentagon's budgeting and acquisition operations...to improve efficiency, unleash innovation, and modernize the budget process."
The2026 NDAAitself says that the Secretary of Defense shall prioritize alternative acquisition mechanisms to accelerate development and production" of technology, including an expeditedsoftware acquisition pathway"-a special part of the U.S. codethat, if this version of the NDAA passes, will transfer powers to the Secretary of Defense to streamline the buying process and make new technology or updates to existing technology and get it operational in a period of not more than one year from the time the process is initiated..." It also makes sure the new technology shall not be subjected to" some of thetraditional levers of oversight.
All of this signals one thing: speed over due diligence. In a commercial technology landscape where companies are repeatedly found to beoversellingor evendeceivingpeople about their product's technical capabilities-or where police departments are constantly grappling with the reality that expensive technology maynot be effectiveatproviding the solutionsthey're after-it's important that the government agency with the most expansive budget has time to test the efficacy and cost-efficiency of new technology. It's easy for the military or police departments to listen to a tech company's marketing department and believe their well-rehearsed sales pitch, but Congress should make sure that public money is being used wisely and in a way that is consistent with both civil liberties and human rights.
The military and those who support its preferred budget should think twice about cutting corners before buying and deploying new technology. The Department of Defense's posturing does not elicit confidence that the technologically-focused military of tomorrow will be equipped in a way that is effective, efficient, or transparent.
Republished from the EFF's Deeplinks blog.