{"version":1,"tree":{"n":"html","c":[{"n":"head","x":"\n ","l":"\n ","c":[{"n":"title","x":"Desconocido","l":"\n \n "},{"n":"link","l":"\n","a":[["rel","stylesheet"],["type","text/css"],["href","../../stylesheet.css"]]},{"n":"link","l":"\n","a":[["rel","stylesheet"],["type","text/css"],["href","../../page_styles.css"]]}]},{"n":"body","a":[["class","calibre"]],"c":[{"n":"div","x":"| ","a":[["class","calibre_navbar"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"Siguiente","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["rel","articlenextlink"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_8/article_2/index_u74.html\", \"frag\": \"\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú de sección","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_8/index_u72.html\", \"frag\": \"article_1\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú principal","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"index_u63.html\", \"frag\": \"feed_8\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Anterior","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["rel","articleprevlink"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_8/article_0/index_u82.html\", \"frag\": \"\"}"]]},{"n":"hr","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre6"]]}]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]],"c":[{"n":"div","x":"Pete’s purge","a":[["class","calibre8"]]},{"n":"h1","x":"Pete Hegseth is purging both weapons and generals","a":[["class","calibre9"]]},{"n":"div","x":"The American army wants to get rid of obsolete kit. But there are risks","a":[["class","calibre19"]]},{"n":"p","x":"may. 08, 2025 02:44 ","a":[["class","calibre10"]]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]],"c":[{"n":"img","a":[["src","images/img1_u16.jpg"],["title","A US soldier sits on the edge of a helicopter looking out."],["class","calibre3"],["data-calibre-src","feed_8/article_1/images/img1_u16.jpg"]]}]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre11"]]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"T","a":[["data-caps","initial"],["class","calibre13"]]},{"n":"span","x":"HE PENTAGON","l":" is in chaos. ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Pete Hegseth","l":", the secretary of defence, is accused of ","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/01/09/pete-hegseths-culture-war-will-weaken-americas-armed-forces"]]},{"n":"a","x":"mishandling classified information","l":". Many of his aides have been fired over alleged leaks (accusations they deny). Top generals have been dismissed for no discernible reason beyond their colour or sex. The department is in “a full-blown meltdown”, says John Ullyot, a Hegseth loyalist who served as chief spokesman until April. Yet Mr Hegseth is pressing ahead with reforms that will change the size, shape and purpose of America’s armed forces.","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/03/26/white-house-denials-over-the-signal-snafu-ring-hollow"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"The first step came on April 30th when Mr Hegseth issued a memo to the army. The force had two simple priorities, he wrote: defend the homeland and deter China in Asia. The army was told to expand its stockpiles, deployments and exercises in the region, which tends to be dominated by the air force and navy. No mention was made of Europe, where America still has more than 80,000 troops, a fact that is likely to raise eyebrows among European allies a month ahead of a ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"NATO","l":" leaders’ summit in June.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"The memo gave the army a number of new tasks. The most important was the exhortation to “achieve electromagnetic and air-littoral dominance” by 2027, a convoluted phrase that translates into out-jamming and out-droning the enemy. By the end of next year every division in the army has been told to field sizeable numbers of drones (perhaps 1,000 per division); every “manoeuvre” platoon (a unit of three dozen soldiers) should have better and cheaper anti-drone systems. Divisions and larger formations are to have “","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":"-driven command and control” to manage battles.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"To free up money for all this, Mr Hegseth has also told the army to stop doing various things. Some of this is bureaucratic tinkering. The streamlining of five major commands into two, including the merger of the army’s Forces Command, which produces soldiers for commands around the world, with two others which cover North and South America, is the biggest institutional shake-up in years. A thousand staff positions are being cut from the army’s headquarters. But Mr Hegseth is also proposing a bonfire of equipment. The memo orders an end to “obsolete” weapons, such as crewed planes and outdated drones.","a":[["class","calibre12"]]},{"n":"p","x":"The army singles out the Humvee, a hulking truck that served America well during its Middle Eastern wars but would be dangerously vulnerable in a high-intensity conflict, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, its replacement. The ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"M10 ","l":"light tank, which has only just come into service, is also set for the chopping block because it has been deemed too big and heavy.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"The army itself has long been keen to get rid of much of this equipment, which it says would be of minimal use in a serious scrap with China or Russia. In a podcast with ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"i","x":"War on the Rocks","l":", a website, Dan Driscoll, the secretary of the army, lamented lawmakers’ “parochial” insistence that services must keep unwanted weapons: “a welfare system for…certain congressional districts”. The army wants to use the money and manpower that is freed up to focus on newer programmes. Crewed attack helicopters—which have fared badly in Ukraine—are to be supplemented with cheaper drone swarms, for instance.","a":[["class","calibre18"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Critics retort that the reforms are knee-jerk and muddled. Patrick Donahoe, who served as an army major-general until 2022, argues that ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"M10","l":"s, for example, were a crucial part of ensuring that the army’s future brigade combat teams had enough firepower. “Killing the platforms without replacing the capability isn’t reform,” he argues. “It’s regression.” Mr Donahoe suggests that the Pentagon has been dazzled by a vision of war which puts too much emphasis on technology. “We’re cutting armour and firepower for concepts that collapse under contact.” The army denies this. It says that adding drones and technology has made units “300% more lethal” than their predecessors in recent exercises in Europe. “When you look at the outcomes of going leaner and lighter,” says Mr Driscoll, “it is leading to incredible results.”","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Hardware is not the only thing becoming leaner and lighter. On May 5th Mr Hegseth issued another memo ordering the army and other services to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20%, and the total number of general officers and flag officers (","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"GOFO","l":"s, or brigadier-generals and higher) by 10%. It is true that America has a top-heavy military. It has 817 generals and admirals serving today, including 38 four-star officers. The ratio of generals to troops has risen steadily.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"The Trump administration is not the first to take aim at their ranks. In 2010 the secretary of defence at the time, Robert Gates, was alarmed by the post-9/11 surge in ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"GOFO","l":" numbers and tried something similar. Mr Hegseth’s pruning is a continuation of that. The difference is that his cuts may be informed as much by culture wars as real ones. In a podcast last summer, he complained that a third of officers were “actively complicit” in allowing diversity initiatives, such as the inclusion of women, to undermine combat standards. Mr Hegseth will now have the opportunity to mould a top brass more to his liking. ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"■"}]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"i","x":"Stay on top of American politics with ","a":[["class","calibre18"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"The ","l":", our daily newsletter with fast analysis of the most important political news, and ","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/newsletters/us-in-brief"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"US ","l":"in brief","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"a","x":"Checks and Balance","l":", a weekly note from our Lexington columnist that examines the state of American democracy and the issues that matter to voters.","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/newsletters/checks-and-balance"]]}]}]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"i","x":"Stay on top of our defence and international security coverage with ","a":[["class","calibre18"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"The War Room","l":", our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/newsletters/the-war-room"]]}]}]}]},{"n":"div","x":"\n","a":[["class","calibre_navbar"]],"c":[{"n":"hr","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre6"]]},{"n":"p","x":"This article was downloaded by ","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre16"]],"c":[{"n":"strong","x":"calibre","l":" from ","a":[["class","calibre13"]]},{"n":"a","x":"https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/05/06/pete-hegseth-is-purging-both-weapons-and-generals","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/05/06/pete-hegseth-is-purging-both-weapons-and-generals"],["rel","calibre-downloaded-from"]]}]},{"n":"br","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]]},{"n":"br","l":" | ","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú de sección","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_8/index_u72.html\", \"frag\": \"article_1\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú principal","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"index_u63.html\", \"frag\": \"feed_8\"}"]]}]}]}]},"ns_map":["http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"]}