close video Expert on US military buying Chinese-made drones: Were very vulnerable right now
Allen Control Systems CEO Steve Simoni argues DOGE will find ‘all kinds of wasteful spending’ at the Department of Defense and weighs in on the U.S. military buying Chinese-made drones.
A former Department of Defense insider, Steve Simoni, says it's "no surprise" DOGE has set its sights on the Pentagon for its next bout of uncovering "waste, fraud and abuse," and predicted Monday that the Elon Musk-led group will uncover "all kinds of wasteful spending" in the process.
"It's actually sending shockwaves through the department right now," the Allen Control Systems CEO told FOX Business.
"When I was at the Department of Defense, we were spending $10,000 on HDMI cables that were ‘ruggedized’ when we could have purchased them for $20 or $30 at Best Buy… We need to get more efficient with our spending, because there's a massive threat of drones that are proliferating on the battlefield right now, and the new administration, Secretary [Pete] Hegeth knows this."
WHAT HAS DOGE CUT SO FAR?
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., raises a glass at the Atreju convention in Rome, Italy, on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Simoni, a former Navy nuclear engineer, suggested waste identified by DOGE could be reallocated to modernize military technology and prepare for the battlefield of the future, particularly homing in on developments capable of taking out drones.
China currently dominates the market with its drone manufacturing, producing around 90% of all the devices. Simoni identified it as the "primary issue of our time," adding that what American consumers once thought of as "toys" have since become "weapons of war."
"We're actually very vulnerable right now, and we need to have solutions to be able to take these drone threats out," he warned.
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The US Pentagon in Washington, DC building looking down aerial view from above. (iStock / iStock)
In an X post on Friday, DOGE announced that it held an initial meeting with the Defense Department as it prepares to take its controversial cost-cutting measures to yet another realm of the federal bureaucracy.
"Great kickoff with @DeptofDefense. Looking forward to working together to safely save taxpayer dollars and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse," DOGE wrote.
The $800 billion defense budget, like other areas of exorbitant government spending, could soon see some fat trimmed as DOGE roots out certain areas and identifies ways to streamline other processes.
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FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.