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Upcoming events

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Thu · Nov
5
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

The Future of American Shipbuilding

Whitney Jones

Former Deputy Program Manager, U.S. Navy Maritime Industrial Base program

The Navy is betting on new entrants to fix American shipbuilding. Will it work?

  • 01Why the Navy is turning to new entrants, and what it means for the legacy yards
  • 02Roughly $10B has gone into the submarine industrial base. Where did it go, and is it working?
  • 03Manned vs. unmanned: how settled is the future fleet, really?
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Tue · Nov
10
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

AI in the Department of War

Col. (Ret.) Scott Ruppel

Former Director, Department of the Air Force–MIT AI Accelerator

The Pentagon has elevated AI command-and-control systems like the $1.3 billion Maven Smart System to programs of record, and personal AI assistants and agents are next in line across the force.

  • 01Why so much promising AI research stalls before it reaches operators, and what actually gets it across the gap
  • 02Where personal AI assistants and agents could fit across the force, from the staff and back office to operations
  • 03Where AI dollars are moving in the budget, and which acquisition pathways are working
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Thu · Nov
12
2:00–3:00 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

From DIU to AUTOWARCOM: How the Pentagon Really Buys Autonomy

David Michelson

Former Director of the Autonomy Portfolio, Defense Innovation Unit

Autonomous and uncrewed systems have moved to the center of U.S. defense planning, and the Pentagon is now trying to buy them in numbers, not just as prototypes.

  • 01How the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) evaluates and selects autonomy, AI, and uncrewed systems companies for the Joint Force
  • 02What the effort to field autonomous systems at speed and scale got right, and what it revealed about the limits of the acquisition system
  • 03Where autonomy is delivering real capability in the air, on land, and at sea, and where it still falls short
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Tue · Nov
17
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

The Unmanned Navy: Where Maritime Autonomy Goes Next

Gary Landuyt

Former Director of Unmanned Systems Research and Development, Naval Special Warfare Development Group

The Navy has awarded more than $1.5 billion in production contracts for unmanned surface vessels over the past year, moving autonomous ships from experiments into fleet procurement.

  • 01How operator capability gaps get translated into specifications, concepts of operations, and acquisition strategies for unmanned systems
  • 02How Other Transaction Authority (OTA), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR/STTR), and Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) pathways are used to prototype and field unmanned systems quickly
  • 03Where unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) are delivering real capability, and where they still fall short
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Wed · Nov
18
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

How AFWERX and SpaceWERX Work with Startups

Karen Roth

Former Deputy Director, AFWERX

AFWERX and SpaceWERX manage roughly $1.3 billion a year as the Air Force and Space Force front door for startups, and the April 2026 SBIR reauthorization just rewrote the rules with $30 million matching awards and new proposal caps.

  • 01How AFWERX and SpaceWERX are organized, what they fund, and how they decide
  • 02How Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards move from Phase I to Phase II and beyond, and where companies fall off
  • 03What it takes to turn an early award into a program of record or production contract
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Fri · Nov
20
1:00–2:00 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

The Missile Surge: Can It Last, and Where Startups Fit

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Rob Rasch

Founder and President, R3 – Rasch Advisory Group; former Director of the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO)

Demand for missiles and interceptors has surged, and the Department of War and industry are racing to expand production.

  • 01The demand signals and decisions behind today's missile procurement increases
  • 02Budgets, production capacity, and the industrial base constraints that will decide whether the surge is sustained
  • 03The parts of the missile and munitions enterprise where emerging defense technology companies can make a meaningful difference
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Tue · Nov
24
1:00–2:00 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

Counter-UAS: Drone Threats, Layered Defense, and the Industry Opportunity

Lt. Col. Paul Lushenko

Chief Strategist of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF 401)

Cheap, capable drones have changed the battlefield in Ukraine and the Middle East, and they now pose a real threat to U.S. bases, critical infrastructure, and the homeland.

  • 01How state and non-state actors are using small drones, and what that means for U.S. forces and the homeland
  • 02Why there is no silver bullet, and how sensors, effectors, and command-and-control networks have to work together
  • 03JIATF 401's mission, the new homeland counter-drone authorities, and how capability is being bought and fielded at speed
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Thu · Dec
3
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

Affordable Mass Munitions

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Chris “Alf” Athearn

Former Senior Military Acquisition Advisor to the Air Force Service Acquisition Executive

The war in Ukraine exposed how thin U.S. weapons magazines are and how slowly they can be refilled.

  • 01Why designing for producibility, not just performance, is the key to affordable mass
  • 02How the Weapons Open System Architecture (WOSA) lets components be swapped in and out and widens the supplier pool
  • 03How WOSA should be changing supply chain management (SCM) for weapons, and what that means for non-traditional companies that self-invest, use commercial technology, and rely on advanced manufacturing
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Fri · Dec
4
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

AFRL and the Future of Air Force Innovation

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Jason Bartolomei

Former Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Technology Executive Officer for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force

AFRL runs a more than $5 billion science and technology enterprise and recently went through its biggest reorganization in roughly 30 years, all aimed at getting technology to operators faster.

  • 01Why promising technology stalls between the lab and a program of record, and what actually gets it across
  • 02What changed, and how lining up with the new portfolio acquisition executives is supposed to speed up transition
  • 03Where AFWERX, SBIR/STTR, and the lab work for new entrants, and where they fall short
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Tue · Dec
8
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

Additive Manufacturing and the Maritime Industrial Base

Matthew Sermon

Former Executive Director, Direct Reporting Program Manager for Submarines, U.S. Navy

The Navy is deploying $21 billion to fix its maritime industrial base, and with 182 additive manufacturing parts approved in 2025 alone to cut submarine and ship delays, printed components are moving onto the fleet critical path.

  • 01How additive manufacturing is already being used across shipbuilding, maintenance, and the supply chain
  • 02Which long-lead parts and materials additive could take off the critical path, and which it can't
  • 03What it takes to get printed parts approved for use on submarines and surface ships
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Wed · Dec
9
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

Ukraine's Defense Tech Ecosystem

Artem Moroz

Former Head of Investor Relations, Brave1

Ukraine has become the world's fastest-moving laboratory for defense technology, where startups iterate on the front line in weeks, not years, and global capital is starting to follow.

  • 01How Ukraine's government-backed defense tech cluster connects startups, the military, and investors, and what it took to build an investment function from scratch
  • 02What front-line testing and feedback have revealed about which technologies actually work, and how fast they have to evolve
  • 03How global VCs, family offices, and strategic investors are approaching Ukrainian defense tech, and what still holds deals back
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Wed · Dec
16
1:30–2:30 PM ET
Moderated discussion · 60 min

Space Security: Counterspace, Cislunar, and the Commercial Opportunity

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Tom James

CEO, 2ThinkSpace; former Deputy Commander, U.S. Space Command

On the table

  • 01How quickly military and civil space activity is scaling, and what is driving demand
  • 02How adversary counterspace capabilities are evolving, and what they put at risk for U.S. satellites and operations
  • 03How U.S. Space Command, the Space Force, NASA, and other agencies are organizing operations and acquisition for space security
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Speakers participate in their capacity as private citizens. None of the views expressed are endorsed by political organizations, government, military, or current and prior employers. Events are for informational purposes only. Nothing discussed is investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation.

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The Future of American Shipbuilding

Thu, Nov 5, 2026 · 1:30–2:30 PM ET

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