Lethality, speed and cost efficiency are some of the top factors the Army must consider when evaluating and acquiring new technology and capabilities for the force, a panel of experts said during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama.

“The days of programs of record for non-capital equipment are probably over,” said retired Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood, a former director of the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office who is now a senior vice president at Anduril.

Instead, the Army should “throw away” things every two to four years for the next iteration,” he said. “Industry has to get on board, and the Army just needs to throw things away, which is super hard for the Army, by the way,” Thurgood said. “We are hoarders of people and equipment.”

During the panel discussion, “Agile Acquisition for Continuous Transformation,” Lt. Gen. Robert Collins, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and director of the Army Acquisition Corps, said the Army must focus, first and foremost, on capabilities that are lethal.

Speed, not only on the battlefield but also the ability to be adaptive and agile, is another critical factor. Cost efficiency also is important, as is whether a capability can be fielded at scale, Collins said. “We are in a unique service,” he said. “We’ve got to think about the tyranny of scale in how we do things,” he said.

Today, the Army faces the reality that commercial technology in some cases is outpacing military technology, Collins said. “It wasn’t always the case,” he said. “Acknowledging that is probably one area we need to look to.”

One area where the Army has changed its approach is software, said Jennifer Swanson, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for data, engineer and software. “A lot of the work that we’ve done over the past three years in the Army to change how we approach software is not because we’re developing the software,” she said. “It’s being able to adopt the software [industry] is developing.”

This includes the Modular Open Systems Approach, where officials seek capabilities that can plug and play into an open architecture.

As the Army continues its transformation, it must continue to experiment and test new and emerging capabilities, said Col. Michael Kaloostian, director of transport and network security for Next Generation Command and Control at Army Futures Command. “Until you get technology in the field, in the dirt, into soldiers’ hands, you’re not going to get the information you need to inform decisions,” he said.

Using Project Convergence as an example, Kaloostian said, “We had soldiers giving us feedback on what they think is right and if we’re on the right track,” he said.

Collins agreed. “I would absolutely underscore the value of not only experimentation,” he said. Not only does it allow the Army to learn quickly what’s working and what’s not, it also provides “that feedback early directly to the folks that are coding, developing, bending metal and others,” Collins said.

As the Army expands its transformation in contact initiative to more units across the force, it must not lose sight of outcomes, Collins said. “Is it effective? Is it suitable? Is it survivable? We always need to be looking at the outcomes,” he said.