US Special Ops Chiefs Push for Right-to-Repair Authority for Military Systems
US special operations commanders have revealed that proprietary restrictions imposed by defense contractors are slowing efforts to rapidly repair military equipment, particularly unmanned aerial systems, as adversaries move faster with commercially available technology.
Lt. Gen. Lawrence Ferguson, head of US Army Special Operations Command, said operators lack the control to modify systems in the field as vendors hold key component access.
“The biggest challenge that we face…is the inability of the operator at the edge to have the authority to tinker,” Defense News quoted the chief as saying during a Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities in mid-May.
“We are bound right now to the actual vendor of that system. And so what we are looking for is an ability for our people at the edge to have the right to repair.”
Bigger Firms Dominate
Lt. Gen. Michael Conley, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, then explained that proprietary barriers prevent rapid software updates and integration of new weapons onto aircraft platforms.
“Often working with the large vendors, there’s proprietary information to get into the mission computers,” Conley said, adding that smaller companies trying to deliver instant solutions “get outmuscled by the bigger vendors.”
Lawmakers pressed the commanders on whether major defense firms were limiting innovation, though officials declined to identify specific companies.
Faster With Syndicates
During the meeting, Marine Forces Special Operations Commander Maj. Gen. Peter Huntley contrasted the in-country hurdle to capabilities of militant groups and drug cartels, which according to him can quickly modify off-the-shelf drones while US forces face bureaucratic and technical limits.
“I can buy them right now,” Huntley told senators. “I can put them in the hands of our operators. But the ability to kind of adapt them, and make them a real military capability at some form of scale, is very challenging right now.”
