ICYMI: At Hearing, Warren Stresses Importance of Right-to-Repair, Highlights How Restrictions Limit International Cooperation
Repair restrictions limit service members' abilities to fix their weapons even in the middle of life-and-death missions
Warren successfully pushed the Army to get rid of right-to-repair restrictions, urges the rest of the military to follow
Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) uplifted how right-to-repair can help the U.S. military and allied forces promote innovation and reduce costs.
As Senator Warren explained, the Department of Defense (DoD) spends billions of dollars buying equipment, but contractors impose repair restrictions preventing servicemembers from fixing their weapons, even in the middle of dangerous missions, and often at the expense of innovation. She highlighted how important innovation has been in Ukraine’s ability to continue to defend itself against Russia.
Dr. Lisa Saum-Manning, Associate Director, International Security and Defense Policy Program for RAND, testified to the importance of servicemembers’ ability to repair their own weapons without unnecessary contractor interference, stating, “When it comes to life and death decisions, I think you sort of overlook policy… that's what I would do if I were on the battlefield.”
This month, Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll announced that the Army will ensure right-to-repair provisions are included in future Army contracts and will identify and propose contract modifications for right-to-repair provisions in current contracts.
“Army Secretary Driscoll has taken a necessary and overdue step, but we need all of the services and DOD to prioritize lethality. And that means commanders in the field should never have to beg a contractor to come repair a plane that the Air Force owns or that soldiers could fix themselves,” said Senator Warren.
Senator Warren argued that right-to-repair can help strengthen American allied forces and enhance their capabilities, allowing them to work better with our troops, take missions off the military’s plate, and support U.S. jobs. If U.S. contractors limit our allies and partners’ ability to sustain equipment, that can hurt the ability of those companies to win contracts. Dr. Saum-Manning expressed support for adopting a right-to-repair policy across the military, stating that RAND researchers agreed on a need for change.
Senator Warren has been a leader on right-to-repair, including in the military. In January 2025, Senator Warren secured a commitment from Secretary Driscoll during his nomination hearing about enhancing the Army’s right to repair its own equipment. Senator Warren also pushed for commitments from the Navy Secretary and Military Transportation Command Chief on allowing servicemembers to repair their own equipment.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee to make sure that we aren't letting bad contracting practices limit our soldiers’ ability to win on the battlefield,” concluded Senator Warren.
Transcript: Hearings to examine the Department of Defense responsibilities related to Foreign Military Sales system and international armaments cooperation
Senate Armed Services Committee
May 15, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, being lethal on the battlefield means being scrappy. And when Russia first invaded Ukraine, we sat in the briefings when we were told by experts that Ukraine would only be able to hold out for a few weeks maximum. But over the past three years, Ukrainians have been incredibly innovative, especially in the deployment of drones to keep Russian forces at bay.
The U.S. military may not be nearly as agile. One problem: soldiers are not allowed to repair many of their own weapons. DoD spends billions of dollars buying all sorts of equipment, but then contractors impose restrictions on who can maintain systems and who can produce spare parts. Contractors rake in billions, but service members are not allowed to fix their own weapons when they break, even in the middle of life-and-death missions. That is the opposite of scrappy.
Dr. Saum-Manning, you are an expert on building military capacity. How important is it for readiness for service members just to be able to repair their own weapons?
Dr. Lisa Saum-Manning: I mean, they are on the front lines and critical. When it comes to life and death decisions, I think you sort of overlook policy. That would—, that's what I would do if I were on the battlefield. Again, this is my personal opinion, not an opinion of RAND.
Senator Elizabeth Warren: But I take it. You think the right to repair is important to being able to do your job?
Dr. Saum-Manning: I do think it's important, that said, you have to know how to do it. And so I would want to make sure that they actually knew what they were doing.
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Okay. The problem we've got is that too often, when the U.S. military goes to contractors, they are told when something is broken, they're going to have to wait months for critical parts. In just one case that we have, the Army discovered that instead of waiting months, they could actually just use a 3D printer to print the safety clip they needed in less than an hour and for 1/100th of the cost that was being charged by the contractor.
So, this month, the Trump administration took an important step toward making sure that U.S. soldiers can be just as scrappy as the Ukrainians. The Army's new transformation initiative requires new contracts to include a right to repair their own equipment, and they're also going back to review old contracts to add similar protections. I want to give a shout-out to the new Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, for pushing this initiative.
So, Dr. Saum-Manning, would adopting this policy across the military services enhance innovation and help reduce costs?
Dr. Saum-Manning: Well, as all RAND researchers say, we have to study that. This is very new. It's very exciting to see, when we were doing our study, the Army was in the midst of their sort of transformation, and there was a consensus of opinion that it needed to change. And so it's exciting that they're innovating. We’re watching it. It's definitely a great experiment to see if it happens and to see if we can apply these lessons elsewhere.
Senator Warren: Well, you know, I would argue here on right-to-repair that it can also be used to help strengthen American allied forces as well. When our closest allies buy U.S. weapons, it can help enhance their capabilities, help them work better with our troops. We really like all of that. They can take missions off our plate, and they can support U.S. jobs. But our allies and partners have a lot of other companies that they can choose from, and they are willing to drive a harder bargain than we are. For example, a Canadian task force found that failing to acquire data rights hurt their ability to independently support their own equipment— right to repair—and they recommended prioritizing sustainability and competition. The bottom line? Lockheed Martin's higher repair costs meant that Lockheed Martin just wasn't competitive for the contract.
So Dr. Saum-Manning isn't the best outcome for us, is not only if we can repair our own equipment, but also if our allies, who are buying from us contractors, can repair their weapons in the field and have those weapons made in America?
Dr. Saum-Manning: Well, we have not studied that, but I would say that if we are, sort of, part of that process and can help train, help equip, help be there to help sustain—our partners need to actually be able to sustain the equipment that we give them. Those are priority decisions that need to be made prior to them actually getting on the battlefield.
Senator Warren: Yeah, well, Army Secretary Driscoll has taken a necessary and overdue step, but we need all of the services and DOD to prioritize lethality. And that means commanders in the field should never have to beg a contractor to come repair a plane that the Air Force owns or/and that soldiers could fix themselves. Our Navy should never have to wonder if an ally won't show up because they're waiting months for a contractor to fix a fuel gauge. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee to make sure that we aren't letting bad contracting practices limit our soldiers' ability to win on the battlefield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
###
Next Article Previous Article