Adapting to Change - Navigating US Defense Changes
Reflections on SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) Capital Week in Washington DC - John Thompson, VP Marketing and Communications
As nations and businesses around the world come to terms with the stark new direction of the three months old US administration, so too are Americans themselves – but what does this mean for the defense and security industry?
There have already been huge cuts in the number of government employees, with tens of thousands either sacked or taken redundancy packages.
What is now emerging, is a general sense that defense and security needs, and therefore spending, are likely to remain at originally budgeted levels, at least for the remainder of 2025.
The other realization is that the Indo-Pacific is fast becoming the key long term focus area for the administration, no matter what.
According to Global Fire Power, the US spends USD 895 billion on defense, more than the other top 10 countries put together:
1. US USD 895 billion
2. China USD 266.9 billion
3. Russia USD 126 billion
4. India USD 75 billion
5. Saudi Arabia USD 74.8 billion
6. UK USD 71.5 billion
7. Japan USD 57 billion
8. Australia USD 55.7 billion
9. France USD 55 billion
10. Ukraine USD 53.7 billion
As part of wider US government initiatives, the US Department of Defence (US DoD) is expected to cut up to 60,000 civilian jobs and implement an additional $80 million in cost-cutting measures.
The DoD is also reviewing its contracting policies and restructuring its organizational framework with the intent to further streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy.
At the recent SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) Capital Week in Washington DC, engineering service chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force briefed industry on upcoming opportunities and focus areas.
In the words of SAME, the message was clear “ensure the readiness of our warfighters and weapons systems, and leverage innovative tools to gain speed in procurement and control costs.”
During this time of rapid change, the full impact of what is happening, has already happened and is still to come is not yet fully understood but what is clear is that, given the size and extent of the shakeup, the effects will be significant.
What does this mean for businesses like ours who support the US DoD?
Senior military officials have made it apparent that defense needs are not going away – there are large maintenance and repair challenges, big investments are required in the Indo Pacific (where Austability has a significant presence) along with better project management capabilities.
The danger for business is to focus on the daily churn of announcements from Washington and see them as threats rather than opportunities. This is highlighted by the fact that the Administration is maintaining current defense expenditure levels for the remainder of 2025 at least.
For businesses with a global footprint, like Austability with a significant presence in the Indo-Pacific, the message is apparent: there is no future without big defense spending in the Pacific.
As our teams know first hand, significant investment is well underway in both Guam and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands – that is likely to continue for some time yet whatever happens in Washington.
