Defense tech is booming. But we’re still missing the basics

America’s defense technology sector is rapidly expanding. Top talent, ambitious founders, and serious capital are flooding into a mission that matters, delivering products and solutions that will send us to the moon, deploy unimaginably capable unmanned aerial devices, and redefine what’s possible in modern warfare. It’s an exciting moment—one full of possibility and potential.

But here’s the problem: while everyone is focused on the moonshots, we’re overlooking the foundation. The unsexy stuff. The quiet, mission-critical gaps that don’t make headlines but could leave us dangerously vulnerable. We’re building skyscrapers without checking if the ground beneath us is solid.

I’ve spent decades navigating this ecosystem—from antitrust law to Capitol Hill and building critical technology at Palantir for Defense, Intelligence, and Public Health. And I can tell you: America’s national security demands the big bets. But if we want true resilience, we need to get serious about filling the gaps. Here’s where we’re falling short—and how we can fix it.

The barrier to entry? It’s not paperwork—it’s people

Government go-to-market is notoriously hard. Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)—these acronyms form their own labyrinth, sidelining products and burning through runway. But the real barrier isn’t the bureaucratic maze. It’s the human one.

Success in this space requires identifying, cultivating, and maintaining relationships with every critical stakeholder group throughout a program’s lifecycle. There’s no shortcut. And the complexity multiplies because every agency and department operates differently. They have distinct cultures, decision-making processes, and procurement rhythms.

Then there’s the churn. People rotate roles. Administrations change every four years. Priorities shift. Which means yes, you do have to rebuild relationships constantly. This reality demands a level of operational maturity, business development sophistication, and long-term investment that most startups simply can’t sustain. Innovation gets hampered before it even starts.

We’re funding moonshots—and ignoring everything else

These sky-high barriers create a funding environment that rewards only the most ambitious ideas: building America’s missile defense shield, designing next-generation autonomous drones, launching satellites into low-Earth orbit.

These projects are critically important. They must get done. But what about everything else?

For every loud leap forward, there are thousands of quiet, mission-critical problems leaving us exposed. Not because they’re unsolvable, but because they fall outside traditional models of scale, funding, and attention.

What good is a billion-dollar drone without a reliable charging system? Why are life-saving field surgeries still being conducted with techniques from Vietnam? Why is mission-critical data being stored on local hard drives?

Yes, we need hydrogen-powered autonomous jets. But we also need better military construction techniques. Better gimbals. Better field logistics. The unglamorous stuff that keeps the glamorous stuff running.

Platforms need products—and we don’t have enough

Despite an abundance of platforms, we’re facing a shortage of components. Companies like Anduril and Palantir are building some of the most ambitious, technically sophisticated defense platforms ever created.

But here’s the catch: They’re not incentivized to populate those ecosystems with specialized applications—nor should they be. Their business models reward scale and horizontal integration, not the painstaking work of solving narrow, specific mission problems.

The result? Platforms without components are like operating systems without apps: powerful in theory, underutilized in practice. Real value emerges when platforms are filled with verticalized, specialized tools tuned to specific mission sets, environments, and workflows.

What’s missing is an ecosystem that supports a new generation of builders—small, agile companies creating plugins, widgets, and mission-focused modules that integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure. This requires new funding models that reward precision problem-solving, not just scale.

Speed isn’t optional anymore—it’s survival

In an age of exponential technological change, speed is strategy. For five decades, we’ve overvalued perfection: building exquisite, bespoke systems engineered to the exact specifications of a single mission. We’ve undervalued iteration—especially in the field where conditions change rapidly.

That approach won’t cut it anymore.

We need to identify what’s needed today and ship it to the frontlines as fast as possible, anticipating and removing blockers before they become catastrophic delays. It’s time for a “build fast, fix faster” mindset. That means embracing edge manufacturing, hardening supply chains with domestic production, and structuring R&D teams for maximum autonomy.

Yes, some projects require decade-long timelines. Some problems demand ambitious, wide-reaching platforms. But we also have urgent gaps in our resilience that demand urgency to fix.

Build with your users, not for them

Iteration and urgency only work with partnership. I’ve seen too many well-intentioned solutions developed at breakneck speed that completely miss the mark. Why? Because they were built in a vacuum. Teams delivered what they thought was needed instead of what was actually necessary.

Usually, it’s because they lacked the prerequisites for success: direct access to end users, their leadership, and a deep understanding of program requirements.

Every product lifecycle should begin with a concrete demand signal. What’s the urgent problem blocking mission success today? Not what you assume it is—what the people on the frontlines are actually experiencing. Warfighters. Field operators. Career civil servants.

Then build alongside them. Attend field exercises. Sit in the mud. Watch systems fail in real conditions. Learn from the people whose lives depend on your technology working. Surface these solutions to leadership. Invest in problems and solutions that have buy-in from every level.

Because defense technology is ultimately public service—and a team sport. Like any team sport, listening matters more than speaking. Everyone has a role to play to win.

The path forward

We’re not short on vision, talent, or commitment. What we need now is alignment: between technologists and operators, platforms and products, and urgency and execution.

The opportunity in front of us is extraordinary. If we can bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, we won’t just build better systems. We’ll build a stronger, safer, more resilient future—one that can handle both the moonshots and the fundamentals that keep them flying.

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