The Army has said for years that it wants to cancel unwanted programs and quickly shift both funding and attention when new threats require new capabilities. Last week, the defense secretary tasked the service with axing a handful of programs, and the service eagerly responded by listing the UH-64D Apache, M10 Booker, Humvee, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle as equipment they’d like to unload.
But the Army doesn’t have the final say on how it spends its money, and the people in charge on Capitol Hill had a lot of questions Wednesday as Secretary Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George sat for their first posture hearing of the 2026 budget season.
“We do need to make changes, and I know you want to move quickly, very quickly,” said Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. “However, any successful transformation proposed by the services is only going to be made possible with an open dialog with the United States Congress, the people of this country.”
McCollum insinuated that the Army and Defense Department had not collaborated with lawmakers on the Army Transformation Initiative, raising the hackles of representatives whose districts are home to major military manufacturing facilities.
“Bypassing any of these vital steps will only create questions and create delays – something I know you don’t wish to have happen – and I know you want to put to rest any confusion,” McCollum added. “And I know it’s not your desire to provoke anxiety, but not doing this in a forward, transparent manner could land up doing exactly that.”
The hearing came to a head when Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who represents the Connecticut district where Sikorsky manufactures the UH-60 Black Hawk, questioned the service leaders on the helo’s future.
The Army’s current Black Hawk contract, under which it began purchasing 24 helos annually beginning in 2022, ends next year. The service has indicated that its future aviation formations will include a mix of manned, unmanned and autonomous aircraft, reducing the need for today’s helicopters.
“The problem with an all-Black Hawk formation would be it cannot go far enough and fast enough to survive in some parts of the world, like INDOPACOM,” Driscoll said.
He said the Army is looking at the right mix of aircraft needed for future operations, and that includes a review of every platform, but that the Black Hawk will still be necessary to the Army for “the next sizable portion of time.”
Things started to unravel when DeLauro asked Driscoll how the Black Hawk figures into the Army’s transformation plans.
“Congresswoman, I appreciate that your constituency involves Black Hawk and the Americans who have made it,” he said. “Our constituency is the American soldier and the taxpayer whose dollar –”
DeLauro interrupted him, arguing that she was not advocating for a constituent issue, but for the Black Hawk as a vital part of national security.
George clarified that the Army is looking at taking the aging UH-60L and UH-60V models out of service, adding that he pictures doing some vertical-lift missions – like transporting weapons – with drones.
“So I think that there’s other things that are going to change on the battlefield,” he said. “I see Black Hawks are going to be with us for a while, but I do think we’re going to have to adapt what we’re doing. There just may be less Black Hawks.”
That position is contrary, DeLauro said, to what Army leaders had assured her over the past year about the Black Hawk’s role and their eagerness to sign a new manufacturing contract.
“I’m not aware that we’re making any adjustment to the Black Hawk contract,” George said. “What I was basically describing to you is how I see the battlefield evolving, and how I would see us being able to do things … It’s hard to predict, but we know we have autonomous systems that can do that.”
Also during the hearing, McCollum pointed out that the Army’s plan to divest from the JLTV surprised the Marine Corps, which also uses the vehicle.
“I’m curious to know what you’re going to do in the future to avoid these unilateral actions on joint projects,” she said. “Because whereas you might see this as a money savings, the Marines might need them, and we might see the Marines’ cost per vehicle shoot through the roof.”
McCollum compared the coming discussions over canceling programs to the long, slow death of the Air Force’s A-10 Warthog, which President Donald Trump announced April 29 he intended to kill off once and for all.
“So I’m not afraid to talk about canceling programs or phasing programs out, but I need to understand better how you’re going to work with Congress and work with industry, especially to ensure a soft landing for some of these Army programs that are going to be canceled,” she said.
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