The Pentagon gutted its weapons testing office. The biggest losers could be the troops.

"The recent gutting of a Pentagon office created to prevent troops from being handed rifles that jammed in combat has raised concerns among oversight experts worried history could repeat itself. Substantial cuts that halved the staff of the Pentagon's independent weapons testing office have dramatically reduced the number of programs it oversees, resulting in less supervision on how a new system is performing before it ends up in the hands of US military personnel."

"Outside expertswho have studied the office and its work for decades warn that by reviewing roughly 40% fewer programs, many faulty weapons will slip through to troops. "An incredibly important part of the duty of DOT&E is to make sure we are not fielding weapons that don't work," Greg Williams, the director of the Project On Government Oversight's Center for Defense Information, told Business Insider. "It does us no good to field weapon systems that we either don't know work or that do not work.""

Staff reductions halved personnel at the Pentagon's independent weapons testing office, significantly shrinking the number of programs it reviews. The cuts reduced supervision on how new systems perform before reaching U.S. military personnel. The defense secretary frames the overhaul as an efficiency measure to deliver equipment faster to warfighters. Longtime oversight experts warn that reviewing roughly 40% fewer programs will allow more faulty weapons to slip through. DOT&E was established in 1983 to approve and verify testing, conduct realistic evaluations, and publish test outcomes to inform Pentagon leaders, Congress, and taxpayers about system performance and risks.

Read at Business Insider