When an Army commander needs a warfighting capability, he or she now has a place to go to get it fast.
They just need to reach out to the Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate (G-TEAD). Launched officially in November, G-TEAD’s goal is to tackle technology gaps based on soldiers’ needs, relieving commanders from navigating complex acquisition and funding hurdles.
G-TEAD is already introducing cutting-edge technology to the Army, said Col. Christopher Hill, director of the organization.
“Two specific capabilities have come directly from G-TEAD. The first one you might have heard about is called Merops, dubbed the ‘Shahed killer’ in Ukraine. Back in September, one-way Russian attack drones breached Polish and Romanian airspace. The very next day, General [Chris] Donahue entered the briefing room and said, ‘I want that capability in our partners’ hands within 21 days.’ We rushed to evaluate the system, and it ended up taking us around 27 to 28 days, but we worked with the company to actually deploy that capability on the eastern flank of Europe, ready for those one-way drones, if and when they came,” Hill stated during an appearance on Ask the CIO. “That went from G-TEAD to the Joint Interagency Task Force 401, responsible for the counter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) mission, who picked up that capability and ordered 13,000 of them. Now, you can see the Merops system in action protecting soldiers from potential Shaheds in Epic Fury.”
Another G-TEAD success story involves FD One, a quadcopter drone killer that went through the full development and testing process. Hill noted that G-TEAD initially purchased about 300 of those systems, and after seeing them perform in action, will now buy another 500 FD One systems.
“While this is happening, we are working with the Army portfolio acquisition executives (PAEs) to figure out whether this system meets a broader Army need. If so, it will transition to a program office,” he added. “Merops fully transitioned from what we discussed in September and now sits with a program office. Our success isn’t just about how many prototypes or how many minimum viable products we can get to a unit. The real question is: can we select systems that will transition and scale across the Army? That’s what we consider success. We will always buy a limited number of prototypes, enough to equip a sizable unit and create a real effect on the battlefield.”
Hill said he hopes these examples illustrate why the Army created G-TEAD under its Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT) initiative. PIT includes G-TEAD, FUZE, and the Joint Innovation Outpost (JIOP) programs. The Army officially launched G-TEAD in November, though they had a soft start in August 2025.
Rethinking the acquisition process
All three efforts are part of the Department of Defense’s broader push to transform acquisition. Hill said G-TEAD aligns with Secretary Pete Hegseth’s goals by pushing acquisition and innovation to the tactical edge.
“We were given a tough challenge: take the acquisition enterprise, move it to the tactical edge, give warfighting commanders acquisition authority, provide access to research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funding, and compress the traditional acquisition cycle into something more responsive and flexible for those commanders,” Hill explained. “We were essentially told to jailbreak the acquisition process and create something we could bring to the tactical edge where warfighting commanders have control. Instead of the Army telling them what they need, we let them tell the Army what they need to execute their missions. That’s where G-TEAD got its start.”
Hill, who previously served as a program manager for Integrated Fires Mission Command and led the product management office for Aircraft Survivability Equipment, said he rarely heard directly from field commanders about their urgent needs. Instead, he navigated the standard hurdles surrounding procurement, budgets, and requirements from various parts of the service.
Now, G-TEAD talks directly to commanders who may have eight priorities needing to reach warfighters within the next 18 to 24 months, and provides a clear path to get many of those needs met.
“We take those needs and build an acquisition plan around them so we can fill that gap for soldiers as quickly as possible,” Hill said. “When you look at how long it usually takes to go from identifying a need to actually delivering a capability, it can take years. G-TEAD is reaching out to innovative companies that have been overlooked—companies that simply can’t compete with the top five or six defense contractors for large programs. We need companies and programs that are more responsive. So we created a timeline from the moment a commander identifies a need to the day we get that capability into soldiers’ hands. We managed to shrink that down to 180 days.”
Accelerated Capability Events and prize competitions
Hill explained that those 180 days cover procuring the capability—often through Other Transaction Agreements (OTA)—collecting user feedback, and delivering the initial product to the field.
At the same time, companies must be willing to iterate and improve their products based on user feedback as battlefield conditions rapidly evolve.
To find those nimble and innovative new entrants, G-TEAD is using prize challenges as part of holding Accelerated Capability Events (ACE).
Hill said ACEs bring together operational and industry partners to rapidly identify, evaluate, and field promising solutions.
market needs, technological advancements, and troop feedback.
“In each of the two GATE competitions we’ve conducted, the initial phase drew between 250 to 275 applicants. Our evaluating team of roughly 50 to 60 reviewers then narrows that pool down to 15 contenders. Those finalists are asked on-site to showcase what their technology can do, which includes having military personnel test-drive these systems. We steer clear of solutions that work solely when handled by the companies that created them,” he said. “Troop assessment is the essential criteria we use to select the 5 winners, who advance toward cooperative agreements.”
Ruiz announced that GATE’s next competition this year will incorporate the Small Business Innovative Research pool as recognition categories alongside those agreements. He said if any of the five winners are small firms, they can immediately go into that program.
“We can still acquire those prototype technologies, and it currently puts that small business on a path to broader collaboration with that network,” he said. “And for those that are not small companies, that’s after which we are going to make the most of our other agreement authority.”
Ruiz said the schedule for the following its competition hasn’t been finalized but, but he is hopeful to hold it in August. He additionally plans to increase GATE’S attain past Europe and the Pacific by including a core part and sub region in Central Masa.
“My employees can now take 3 completely different theaters and see as a result of there is some overlap and alternate options that are tapping into most of the vitals. As a result of someday, every authorities and private sector will see what is occurring and we’re ready to speak,” Ruiz said. “That’s why we have that discussion so all can be tapped. Now it gives us to entry to everywhere the European and the Pacific within the Pacific, to inform the federal government in Hawaii that one thing is going on in a location. When it’s vetted there, I’ll present that it’s within the Pacific or larger nonetheless cooperate with its launch there.”
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