The Defense Secretary is gutting the Pentagon office that tests weapons before they reach the battlefield, which is bad for military safety and accountability.

• Pete Hegseth cut more than 75% of the staff at the Pentagon's decades-old weapons testing office to save about $30 million.
• The office checks that military aircraft, submarines, warships, radar, and missiles actually work and are safe for troops.
• Teams were slashed across the board — aircraft testing dropped from 14 people to six, land warfare from 19 to five.
• Oversight was dropped on over 90 weapons programs, with one reason given being an internal decision that oversight was "no longer needed."
• Government auditors warn this raises the risk of weapons being delivered with hidden flaws, while the Pentagon's budget keeps growing toward $1.5 trillion despite failing eight straight audits.

Outlook: With fewer experts left and more programs skipping live-fire testing, faulty weapons and safety gaps are more likely to slip through.