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A battle is brewing between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and big contractors in the military-industrial complex over how the nation buys weapons systems. Some of Hegseth’s notions, which have been circulating in reform circles for a decade, are laudable. But his style of running the Pentagon—including the way he’s put forth his new policy—gravely dims his chances for success.

His policy—laid out in a six-page memo , which he presented to top corporate executives at a meeting on Friday—is meant to cut through the sclerotic bureaucracies, in the Pentagon and at defense contractors, which have slowed the development of weapons programs, boosted their cost, and

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