The Pentagon needs to reform its defense budgeting process in order to better compete against China, given the rapid evolvement of emerging technologies, according to a new report. “To gain an advantage in a military competition with China, the U.S. will likely need to revise its resource allocation processes to permit faster decisions and more adaptability in selecting how to best pursue its operational objectives,” the report stated. The report was written by William Greenwalt, a visiting fellow at the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy; and Dan Patt, an adjunct fellow of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute. Currently, the defense budgeting process is a four-stage process involving planning, programming, budgeting, and execution (PPBE). The process (pdf) was created by former Pentagon chief Robert McNamara in 1961 when John F. Kennedy …