U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday bemoaned the “absence of urgency” and “a fundamental lack of trust” between the military and defense firms, in the most substantive and unifying policy address of his tenure.

The speech, delivered to industry executives at the National War College, kicked off a highly ambitious program of speeding up weapons delivery — an issue that has beguiled administrations for decades.

Hegseth’s address, which dug into the weedy details of acquisition reform, resembled the kinds of talks given by previous Pentagon chiefs and was a stunning tone shift from the berating one he delivered in September to hundreds of generals and admirals. It was also a far cry from his usual focus on culture war issues, often aimed at the MAGA base and dedicated to the perils of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I’m not here to punish. I’m here to liberate,” Hegseth said. “I’m not here to reform, but to transform and empower. We need to save the bureaucracy from itself.”

It’s unclear whether the Defense secretary will live up to his reform goals, which reflect entrenched issues within the Pentagon. While he pledged to get rid of layers of bureaucracy, many of the ideas entailed renaming existing offices under the new “Department of War” moniker, adding oversight functions and overturning decades of policy in a few short months.

“You’re our only hope,” Hegseth told an audience of defense industry mainstays and upstarts, including representatives from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Palantir and Anduril.

The reforms, which POLITICO first reported, are meant to cut bureaucracy and speed up how the military buys weapons and equipment. But they’re also a major test for Hegseth, a relative newcomer to the Pentagon who Vice President JD Vance vowed would prove an effective “disrupter.”

The defense industry hailed the moves, which mirrored changes representatives have lobbied to get for years.

Keith Webster, President of the Chamber of Commerce’s Defense Aerospace Council, called the reforms “bold, timely and forward-looking.” Aerospace Industries Association CEO Eric Fanning labeled them “an ambitious, long-needed overhaul.”

The Pentagon aims to speed up U.S. arms sales to allies by moving the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which runs the process, and the Defense Technology Security Administration, which runs export approvals, directly under acquisitions leadership. This will allow the same officials who manage weapons programs to handle the approval for allies.

Hegseth even invoked the words of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — hardly a hallowed figure in the MAGA world — and said the Trump administration planned to “rebuild the defense industrial base into an arsenal of freedom.”

The Pentagon chief’s push at acquisition reform — alongside two other major initiatives moving on Capitol Hill — are seen as efforts to level the playing field in the industry, which has long been dominated by a handful of contractors with deep roots in Washington.

Hegseth has encouraged the expansion of new legal authorities that allow the Pentagon to give billions to upstart contractors that have not yet competed for major Defense Department programs. The reforms also include the creation of powerful “Portfolio Acquisition Executives,” who will run point on Pentagon weapons acquisition and have performance incentives linked to deliveries.

“The Department of War will only do business with industry partners that share our priority of speed and volume above all else,” he said, using the administration’s preferred moniker for the Pentagon.

Hegseth vowed to work with Congress on the ambitious overhaul. His address comes as leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services panels weigh parallel proposals to slash bureaucracy and get weapons and new technology into soldiers’ hands faster.

Compromise defense legislation that’s likely to pass before the end of the year will almost certainly include a synthesis of the reforms proposed by the House and Senate. Hegseth called out both bills in his speech.

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said Hegseth’s endorsement of his legislation and the priorities his committee has pushed — including prioritizing commercial technology, expanding the industrial base and empowering acquisition leaders — “mark a pivotal moment for our national security.”

House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) stressed the need for the Pentagon and Congress to work together to overhaul the system, calling Hegseth “a willing and enthusiastic partner in our efforts.”

Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.