The Merge

E61 – Rebuilding the Test Playbook with Nominal

Test is where new military hardware goes to wait. Mike sits down with Jenn Wilson, Head of Federal at Nominal, to talk about test and evaluation, the least glamorous gat

E60 – GPS-Free Navigation

How do systems operate when GPS disappears? Mike sits down with Kara Kramer, Vice President ofRaptor Sales at Vantor (formerly Maxar Intelligence), to discuss one of the

E59 – Business Breakdown: Anduril

Anduril Industries raised $5 billion at a reported $61billion valuation—putting a nine-year-old defense tech company in the same conversation as legacy primes that have b

E58 – Dcode the Pentagon Buying Machine

What does it actually take to get new technology into thehands of warfighters—and why is it still so hard? In this episode, Mike sits down with the co-founders ofDcode,

E57 – The War on Bad Software (Defense Unicorns)

All modern hardware depends on good software, but in theU.S. military, most software sucks. Rob Slaughter, co-founder and CEO of Defense Unicorns, joins the show to unpa

E56 – The Fury Origin Story

This is the untold origin story of the Fury CollaborativeCombat Aircraft (CCA), as told by those who lived it. Scott Bledsoe and Joe Murray join Mike to talk about Fury’

E55 – Christine Fox: the REAL Charlie

There is a strange set of organizations that live betweenindustry and government called Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and University Affiliat

E54 – Pryzm: AI to understand the Pentagon

Mike sits down with Matt Hawkins and Nick LaRovere,co-founders of Pryzm. Pryzm is building an Operating System for defense innovation—software that uses AI to generate c

E53 – The Fighter Pilot Spirit

Chris "Snooze" Kurek, Rob “Trip” Raymond, and Erik“EZ” Brine chat with Mike “Pako” Benitez on all things fighter pilot culture—toast, roast, and lore. Better known as Do

E53 – The Fighter Pilot Spirit

Chris "Snooze" Kurek, Rob “Trip” Raymond, and Erik“EZ” Brine chat with Mike “Pako” Benitez on all things fighter pilot culture—toast, roast, and lore. Better known as Do

E52 – Top Secret Offices

Nooks co-founder and CEO Sean Blackman spills all thesecrets about what it takes to do classified business with the Pentagon. Nooks is a venture-backed startup founded

E51 – Red 6 and the Military Metaverse

Red 6 CEO and co-founder Dan Robinson discusses augmented reality for pilots, the military metaverse, and the future of high-end training and tactics development. Red 6

E50 – JDAM: the GPS-Guided Bomb

Mike sits down with Steve “Wingie” Wingfield to discuss the Joint Direct Attack Munition, aka the JDAM—the world’s first operational GPS-aided bomb. Wingie played a big

E49 – Ursa Major Solid Rocket Motors

In this episode, Mike sits down with Dan Jablonsky, CEO ofUrsa Major, to discuss solid rocket motors and how Ursa Major is doing it differently. Once dominated by just t

The Future of Air Warfare: Offensive Electronic Attack (Sponsored)

Electronic warfare is a crucial element of armed conflict involving controlling and protecting the electromagnetic spectrum, which is vital for communication, navigation,

E48 – Golden Dome, DIU, and the Innovation Reckoning

In this episode, Mike and Jake catch up on defense techhappenings.   Links • Sign up for the newsletter⁠! • Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠! • ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ ----   Follow

The Future of Air Warfare: Modeling & Simulation (Sponsored)

Tomorrow’s fight will be fast, complex, and contested. Victory won’t come from a single platform, weapon, or payload—it will depend on how well everything works together.

E47 – Cumming's Hellhound

Don’t miss our newsletter!That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense! In this episode, Mike sits down with Sheila Cummings,founder, pr

The Future of Air Warfare: Radars (Sponsored)

Joe “Grip” Beissner, Director of Requirements and Capabilities for Radio Frequency Solutions at Raytheon, a business of RTX, joins us to discuss the cutting-edge AESA rad

The Future of Air Warfare: Weapons (Sponsored)

Jon "Stormin" Norman, Vice President of Requirements & Capabilities at Raytheon, a business of RTX, joins us to discuss the cutting-edge air-to-air and -surface weapons a