Defense- & Dual-Use Technologies Edition

A look back at innovation and tech adoption in Biden's DoD, the path ahead, and a jab at our friends

Defense and dual-use technologies

Jan 17, 2025

Good morning!

The transition of the administration is just around the corner. Numerous outgoing officials and numerous incoming nominees have joined together in a chorus acknowledging that China is the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States and to the world, today.

Now, before we go any further, we’d like to acknowledge the tremendous effort by numerous political appointees over the past few years in accelerating the readiness of our forces through innovation and technological adaptation / adoption. We’d like to just highlight a handful of those accomplishments:

Creation of the CDAO in part to improve the coordination of JADC2 efforts
Maturation of Projects Overmatch, Convergence, et al
Advancement of hypersonics RDT&E and acquisitions
Development of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture
Replicator program
The use of the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act, and Defense Production Act to improve the security of critical supply chains
Collaborative combat aircraft
Many other efforts

Now, to be sure, some of these programs and efforts began more than four years ago. But the team in the Pentagon has certainly worked diligently to continue to ensure a robust security and defense for our warfighters and our nation.

Many of the political appointees and career civil service members that have made these efforts possible are subscribers to this newsletter. We thank you for your dedication and devotion. For those about to leave the department, please consider subscribing using personal emails to continue receiving these updates as you move on to your next chapters. And please, do not hesitate to let us know how Building our Future can continue to serve you.

Great! So let’s bring it back to the topic at hand—defense. The Defense Innovation Board, chaired by Michael Bloomberg, held its winter meeting this week. We were excited to see some of the recommendations they raised. For example, they proposed shifting from programs of record to ‘capabilities of record’ to create flexibility in capital and the PPBE process. Another critical recommendation from their reports was to categorize UxS (drones) as consumables like ammunition, rather than platforms. This will accelerate RDT&E and fielding of systems and also allow warfighters to employ them without unnecessary risk aversion. The final recommendation we want to highlight is that the Board recommended DIU’s role and budget be expanded to accelerate adoption of commercially available technology. We’re all for the fast follower approach!

Finally, Anduril announced this week that it would build its 5,000,000 sq ft Arsenal-1 gigafactory in Pickaway county south of Columbus, Ohio. The factory is expected to hire 4,000 workers and contribute significantly to the region’s economy. We’re excited to see the rust belt’s revitalization and incorporation into defense tech, but would have preferred to see it accomplished in a different manner, that we’ve previously outlined.

Alright, enough yapping, let’s dig in to the news!

News Headlines

China pushing Philippines 'to the wall' with sea aggression: Manila (DN)
Pentagon 'concerned China will instigate' avoidable conflict: DepSecDef (DO)
NATO to boost Baltic presence, send warships to guard undersea cables (DN)
Seoul's spy agency says N. Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine haven't shown desire to defect (AP)
Marco Rubio warns China is America's 'biggest threat,' affirms value of NATO alliance (AP)
Jake Sullivan wants the incoming administration to know these things about the DIB (DS)
U.K. won't finalize deal on Chagos Islands until they can consult with Trump (AP)
Japan and Philippines plan to convey to Trump the need for U.S. engagement in Asia (AP)
Canada minister says retaliatory tariffs could include critical minerals (RT)
Israel and Hamas have agreed to ceasefire but Israel cabinet vote delayed (BBC)

Defense Tech bubble is causing a supply chain crunch and leading to clashes among VCs and CVCs (GCV)
Trump nominates NRO official to lead Air Force Department (DO)
In final speech, Hicks touts work to thwart China's A2/AD strategy (ASF)
The Pentagon's 'Replicator' drone bonanza faces an uncertain future (MT)
Biden executive order aims to strengthen cyber defense (AP)
Defense Innovation Board: CCA success points way to greater innovation (ASF)
‘Expand DIU’s role and budget’: Defense Innovation Board (DN)
DoD's AI hub assembles new budget and programming cell to confront 'pain points' (DS)
Air Force Secretary outlines 2050 vision, floats alternative paths to NGAD (DN)
$20B price tag to complete development of next-gen fighter (TWZ)
Army wants spy drones to launch from high-altitude motherships (DN)
Marines add self-driving tech to anti-ship missile launching trucks (USNI)
Funding gaps are slowing Marine Corps modernization efforts (DO)
Navy identifies first destroyer to receive full set of DDG Mod 2.0 (USNI)
Trump and others want to ramp up cyber offense, but there's plenty of doubt about the idea (DS)
The Navy prepares to receive its first Orca extra-large unmanned undersea vehicle this year (TWZ)
Stratolaunch readies second carrier plane for Talon-A hypersonic ride (DN)

Threat Tech

Chinese scientists have dabbled in undersea cable-cutting tech (DN)
China confirms new Type 076 amphib ship will be a drone carrier (SCMP)
China’s energy weapon fires thousands of intense pulses in tests and survives: study (SCMP)
Computer sim suggests that China plans to blow 1,400 Starlink satellites out of the sky within 12 hours using 99 satellites (AsT)
Iran unveils new spy ship based on corvette hull (TWZ)
Vietnam and Russia sign an agreement to expand cooperation on nuclear energy (AP)
Sudanese military has used chemical weapons, twice (NYT)

Foreign Defense Tech

Polish general fired after missing anti-tank mines were found in IKEA (POL)
India's navy launches submarine, warships to guard against China's presence in Indian Ocean (AP)

Defense Industry

Pentagon to test Anduril, Palantir genAI in IndoPacific (DO)
Anduril to build its 5,000,000 sq ft gigafactory ‘Arsenal-1’ in Ohio (TC)
Huntington Ingalls plans to roll-up manufacturers to boost submarine production (DO)
Israel's defense industry booms on foreign demand and war at home (WSJ)
With torpedo firm buy, Fincantieri eyes $100B undersea-defense market (DN)
Raytheon aims to boost SM-3 missile production rates (DN)

Autonomous Systems

Second batch of Air Force CCA drones could be 20-30% pricier than the first (TWZ)
Hegseth: Drones expected to remain a DoD priority under Trump (DS)
Sweden unveils new drone swarm tech from Saab (TDP)
DJI will no longer stop drones from flying over airports, wildfires, and the White House (TV)
Iranian army takes delivery of 1,000 new drones with 2,000km+ range and small radar cross sections (RT)

Finance & Deal Flow

Funds

Keen Venture Partners is raising $130M to invest in European defense and security tech (EUS)

VC

Overland AI raised $32M in a Series A led by 8VC to deploy its OverWatch software enabling a single operator to control a fleet of ground drones (AX)
Military drone boat startup Saronic is in talks to raise $500M (FBS)

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Exciting Opportunities

The Army is seeking industry feedback to help guide its Next Gen Command and Control initiative (SAM)
Army DEVCOM is seeking white papers on implementing C5ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) into legacy and emerging mission spaces (SAM)
Space Development Agency is looking for exsums, abstracts, and/or proposals for novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities to enable leap-ahead improvements in the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (SAM)
DARPA will host a webinar on their program to hybridizing biology and robotics; so, if you’ve ever wanted to build futuristic cybernetic enhanced super soldiers this is the opportunity (SAM)