Despite ‘peak hype,’ orbital data centers for AI not yet ready for NatSec prime time
One expert summed up the defense market viewpoint of AI data centers in space as: "If they build it, we might come."
Driscoll vows Silicon Valley model is the Army’s future
At AUSA 2025, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll took aim at traditional primes, saying the future Army will “break down barriers until we measure acquisitions not in years and billions, but months and thousands."
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How drones can navigate without GPS
Absolute positioning is critical in contested and denied environments.
Shield AI names former Splunk CEO as new chief executive
Gary Steele, currently Cisco’s president for go-to-market, will take the reins at Shield AI to join its board of directors on May 13, the company announced today.
Harris administration’s Pentagon should focus on defense innovation, top HASC Dem says
“I'd like to see in a Harris administration, a commitment to the innovation reform agenda at DoD,” said HASC Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith. “That really has, I think, stalled a little bit."
Should the US tame the ‘million monkeys’ of innovative startups in its tech race with China?
“I call this the million monkeys at a typewriter,” CIA CTO Nand Mulchandani said. “You can’t pick the specific monkey that is going to crank out Shakespeare."
US defense modernization gets a ‘D’ grade in new report as tech roadblocks persist
“We're still looking for the ability to translate and transition those innovation priorities into capabilities, into programs of record, into budget priorities,” said Rachel Hoff, Reagan Institute’s policy director and one of the authors of a new scorecard evaluating progress in defense innovation.
How AI is shaping geospatial intelligence
Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together reporting from GEOINT 2026 on how intelligence leaders are shaping the future of space-based geospatial intelligence.
Palmer Luckey on Anduril’s growth plans, a future IPO and how ChatGPT has impacted AI
"I can't really imagine a world where something like a Joint Strike Fighter program goes to a privately traded company," Luckey told Breaking Defense. "I can't imagine that ever happening."
Now at a ‘tipping point,’ Defense Innovation Unit looks to next ‘phase’: Scaling tech
"The thing we haven't done... [is] scale... and do it quickly, and that's what we're focused on now," DIU chief Doug Beck said.
It’s time for new incentives for defense primes to invest in startups
"If we are to meet the innovation goals of the NDS, we must incentivize the primes to move beyond the short-term partnership model and encourage them to form more holistic relationships with promising early-stage companies, including investment into operating businesses," writes Chip Walter.
LaPlante pokes Silicon Valley ‘tech bros,’ calls for increased munitions production for Ukraine
"We're not fighting [in] Ukraine with Silicon Valley right now, even though they're going to try to take credit for it,” said Pentagon acquisition czar Bill LaPlante.
New webinar Safeguarding funded innovation in research security
Join us 6/24 as experts discuss evolving US research security policy and innovation protection. 1 CLE credit eligible.
After hearing Silicon Valley complaints, Hicks says no ‘magical’ fix to acquisition
“My view isn't like, I'm going to magically unlock special secret approaches that haven't been touched before,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kath Hicks said Wednesday. “I think it's more about how you start to shift the incentives"
Hondo Geurts Joining Silicon Valley Defense Group
Former Navy acquisition executive Hondo Geurts left government in August after Carlos Del Toro was confirmed as Navy secretary.
Advice For DIU At Five: Don’t Just Grow, LEAD
“DIU is punching above its weight and having an impact beyond its size,” acquisition guru Bill Greenwalt says. “Still, that will not be enough…. Unless the rest of the Department and Congress learns these lessons, we will continue to fall behind China.”
Making War A Software Problem: JAIC Director On JADC2
Victory lies not in the weapons themselves, Nand Mulchandani says, but in AI algorithms that advise commanders on how best to wield them.