🔷 Defense Unicorns

Military software SUCKS.
Defense Unicorns is fixing it.

All modern hardware depends on good software, but in the U.S. military, most software sucks.

Rob Slaughter, co-founder and CEO of Defense Unicorns, joins the show to unpack why this is happening and what they are doing to fix it.

We dive into the rise of “software as a weapon system,” the role of open-source software in national security, and how Defense Unicorns is building an air-gapped, platform-agnostic software delivery model designed for real-world military environments.

Why is the process broken? Is open-source software good or bad? Why are all the McDonald’s ice cream machines broken?

You’re gonna learn a ton about software—we guarantee!

Check it out!

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In That Number

11,000 in 16

Coalition forces expended over 11,000 munitions in 16 days in the Iran war (so far), incurring approximately $26B billion in costs and exposing critical vulnerabilities in weapon stockpiles.

TRIVIA

On this day in 1949, Joe DeBona set a U.S. national speed record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City—non-stop—in 5 hours, 0 minutes, 5 seconds at an average speed of 490 miles per hour!

Which aircraft did he set this record-breaking feat with 77 years ago?

A) P-51 Mustang 
B) P-61 Black Widow
C) P-80 Shooting Star

On the Radar

Scaling the Arsenal. Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and BAE finalized landmark framework agreements with the Pentagon to place the U.S. industrial base on a "wartime footing." These deals include 4X production of seekers to support the previous deal to 4X production of THAAD interceptors, as well as a $500M multi-year investment from Honeywell to surge production of actuators and electrical components used in weapons. Lockheed Martin also announced they are 4X production of PrSM (Precision Strike Missiles). These follow announcements a few months ago to 3X Patriot production and the RTX agreement to 2-4X production of Tomahawk, AIM-120, SM-3, and SM-6 missiles.

• The Merge’s Take: Don’t celebrate the three-pointer while the ball’s still in the air. Some of these efforts will produce results in about a year; others will take 2-3 years to see results. Those production-deliverable press releases are the ones that matter, and time will tell how they come to fruition. Remember a few years ago, the flurry of deals to ramp 155mm production to 100,000 a month by mid-2026? That’s not quite working.

They Said It

“We’re going to constantly have that feedback from the field, and then when you’re ready, we’re going to test what you have.”

— Col. Danielle Medaglia, Head of the Army’s UAS Project Management Office, announcing the launch of a digital "Amazon-style" marketplace for drone procurement.

The Army’s UAS Marketplace will be the primary way to buy Group 1 to 3 drones, but it is unlikely to be the case for procuring launched effects.

Last Chance:
Defense Tech Conference at MIT & Harvard

In less than a week, the Technology & National Security Conference returns to MIT and Harvard Business School in Cambridge, MA, April 3–4.

Get your tickets here

Innovation for today's and tomorrow’s frontlines is being driven by founders, investors, and government leaders with a bias for action and urgency to win. Cambridge is a natural meeting point: radar, inertial navigation, guidance computers, and anti-jam communications were born steps from the venue.

Others carried the torch; now it’s on you to be a part. Acta Non Verba.

Knowledge Bombs

• Darkhive won a $49.7M APFIT drone contract, the largest program award to date

• Shield AI raised a $1.5B Series G and is acquiring Aechelon Technology

• South Korea started mass production of the domestically developed KF-21 fighter

• Anduril & Palantir joined in developing software for the Golden Dome shield

• Quantum Systems was tasked to deliver 15,000 interceptor drones to Ukraine

• Navi AI emerged with $6.7M in funding to use AI for human pilot training

• AeroVironment unveiled the LOCUST X3 laser to destroy drones for under $5

• PDW raised a $110M Series B to scale modular drones

• Xona raised a $170M Series C to accelerate its satellite navigation network

• Sift closed a $42M Series B for its AI hardware observability platform

• AeroVironment won an Army contract for Red Dragon long-range attack drones

• Anthropic won a temporary injunction against the Pentagon over AI restrictions

• Northrop Grumman is testing diamonds in computer chips, but you’d already know that if you saw this on LinkedIn

• Skydio won a $52M Army contract for 2,500 X10D drones, and the announcement drew a ton of engagement on social media…just not the good kind

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ANSWER
A) Joe DeBona flew a heavily modified, cobalt-blue P-51C Mustang named Thunderbird, owned by actor and WWII bomber pilot Jimmy Stewart. The journey wasn't without drama; he ran out of oxygen over Pennsylvania, had to drop to a lower altitude to finish the trip, lost oil pressure, and had just seven minutes’ worth of fuel remaining when he landed. Crazy: that time is what a modern jet airliner does in. Even crazier: the P-51 that accomplished this feat is alive and flying!