U.S. Army can't "continue to buy VCRs" amid global security shift

Axios

11-06-2025

The U.S. Army Transformation Initiative trotted out by service leaders last month is just the tip of the iceberg.
There will be additional pivots, debates, cuts and media appearances.
Why it matters: "The risk is in not changing," Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told Axios during an interview in his Pentagon office.
"We've got to get better by 2026," he said, shrugging off longer-term ambitions like the Army of 2030 or 2040. "I think we have to be improving on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis."
State of play: The changes introduced May 1 — combining Army Futures and Training and Doctrine commands, shifting to mobile brigade combat teams, axing AH-64D Apaches and M10 Bookers and more — are colloquially known as "1.0."
There's "going to be 2.0 and 3.0," George said, "and that's how we need to look at it."
He did not say what each iteration might comprise or target. Officials have claimed ATI will save some $48 billion over the next five years.
Context: The goal is to produce a force that can shoot and kill more accurately from farther away while also being harder to detect, especially on the electromagnetic spectrum.
"World events will tell you that we need to make adjustments," George said. (We spoke just days after Ukraine's surprise Spiderweb drone assault.)
"We don't want to continue to buy VCRs just because that's what people are producing."
Between the lines: Expect the fruits of canceled programs to be applied elsewhere.