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The symbiotic relationship of warfare and technological innovation is arguably one of the powerful driving forces in the history of geopolitics and economies 🌎 Each terrain that mankind has explored was simultaneously a breeding ground for developing new weapons systems optimized for the new environment. At the same time, these terrains did not remain siloed. Rather, the development of one changed the landscape - literally and figuratively - of the other. That in turn altered the nature of international relations and economic dynamism both regionally and on a nation-state basis. That also doesn't incorporate the development of financial conduits i.e. markets to facilitate and finance these changes. So, what are these terrains and the macro-dimensional shifts that followed? The first terrain of warfare was obviously land 🏔 - Stone tools, spears and bows, chariots, swords, shields, armor, catapults, and then eventually gunpowder and its iterations. The next is oceanic 🌊 - Galleys and oars with rams, sailing, naval artillery, warships, then submarines, iron clad battleships, aircraft carries, naval mines and torpedoes. The final frontier: space 🚀 - Rockets, satellites, anti-satellite weapons, space-based reconnaissance, ballistic missiles, navigation systems, orbital weapon platforms, Iron Dome Cyberspace 💻 - Encryption and Cryptography, hacking, firewalls and IDS, DDos attacks, APTs, malware, ransomeware, Stuxnet, social engineering We are in the last stage, where we are seeing the rapid development and deployment of AI systems and quantum computing. Relative to their potential, both of these hegemon-defining technologies are still in their adolescence, and have much to grow. However, their growth will not be linear but exponential. Consequently, dimensions of human relations (economic, political, financial, social) will fluctuate in proportion to the magnitude of these technological changes and simultaneously alter the terrains of human existence: land, oceanic, space, and digital. For more, subscribe to Pantheon Insights: https://lnkd.in/gEzriB22

🦓 Turium Zebra was at ADSTAR 2024 At the Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research (ADSTAR) Summit this week by Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), Priya Rajgarhia our Chief Information Officer presented Turium Zebra, Australia’s Sovereign Large Language Model. The theme for ADSTAR was accelerating the delivery of asymmetric defence capabilities, focusing on areas such as trusted autonomy, quantum technology, information warfare, and hypersonics, among others. In the newly released 2024 Defence Innovation, Science, and Technology Strategy, Information Warfare is essential for Defence’s ability to deny, degrade, deter, and deceive adversaries across the full spectrum of operations. Turium Zebra integrates all data types (from textual communications to sonar, radar, cyber and network signals) to provide cohesive, actionable insights, allowing Defence personnel to communicate with the AI in natural language, ask questions, receive detailed reports, and collaborate in real-time decision-making. This is AI working alongside humans, ensuring faster, smarter, and more secure responses to emerging threats. In the words of Professor Tanya Monro AC: “Asymmetry must be part of our advantage, and we need the technology, equipment and expertise that delivers this advantage quickly. Working together, our scientists shoulder to shoulder with the ADF, industry, and academia, is how we’ll maintain a strategic advantage, and how we’ll become more resilient than ever before.” We align directly with this vision, discover more about Turium Zebra: https://turium.ai/defence #ADSTAR2024 #TuriumZebra #AustralianAI #XaanaAI #TuriumAI Dan Saldi

Now, in your pocket, you have a more powerful computer than the one that sent astronauts to the moon in the 60s. Just imagine what power you have and what a difference you can make in the world if you invest in understanding the power of computing we now possess. AI and cyber are just two barely touched areas of our new world. Let me know if you would like to learn more.

We’re proud to be included in Booz Allen Hamilton’s “Top 10 Emerging Technologies for the DOD and National Security.”  💡 “Space is now a warfighting domain, a recent and dramatic shift over the past decade.  Given that, the U.S. and allied partners need to accurately understand the threats to their assets and capabilities so they can prevent conflict and maintain environmental superiority.” 🔶 True Anomaly is building innovative technology at the intersection of spacecraft, software, and AI to deliver solutions for space security, and a more secure and sustainable space domain. Read more about these technologies in the Space Domain Awareness Technology section of the Booz Allen Velocity Magazine’s special edition report here 👉 https://lnkd.in/euNqu-Gv  #SpaceSecurity #DefenseTech #DoD 

Oi, defence tech crowd! Jake's off to the SW Defence & Security Cluster do tomorrow, AI hat in hand. He'll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Thales, MOD's AI boffins, and other grown-ups who know their digital onions. Jake's mission? Reminding folk that AI in defence should augment humans, not replace them. You know, so we can focus on important stuff - like why we're still using fax machines in government. 🤔 Give him a shout if you're about. He'll be the one not building Skynet. https://lu.ma/ormfce6h

Attending the Space, Defense, and Security Summit in Paris today or tomorrow? Meet with Gastao D. to discover how blackshark.ai’s ORCA HUNTR delivers unmatched accuracy and speed, enabling object detection and feature extraction in minutes.   With ORCA™ HUNTR™, building highly accurate feature extraction models has never been easier—or faster. In just minutes, users can identify objects like C-17s, all without coding.   ORCA’s Probability and Entropy layers provide instant feedback, measuring the model’s confidence in object identification and the precision of edge detection, enhancing accuracy.   These capabilities are essential for building precise models, especially in mission-critical situations where speed and accuracy are vital.   Detect Anything | Deploy Anywhere | Insights Everywhere. What will you detect? #WWYD   #SDSS #SDSS24 #WSBW24 #intelligence #accuracy #defense #objectdetection #GEOINT #AI #nocode Novaspace (Merger of Euroconsult & SpaceTec Partners)

In advance of #DODIIS24, Michael Hoffman, President of GovCIO Media & Research, sat down with our Senior Director of Field Engineering, Stretch - Brian M, for an in-depth discussion on the evolving landscape of attack surface management in federal defense. Meyer shared how AI is advancing threat detection and the unique challenges agencies face in adopting zero trust while managing legacy systems. Follow along for more #DODIIS24 insights: https://lnkd.in/e_Q_msN8 #AI #Cybersecurity #DefenseTech

Building off of our last... Business Insiders Top 26 Def Tech VCs:  https://lnkd.in/e-ps5gD9 - Congrats to SVDG board members Chris Moran and Daniel Ateya for making the list among many of our other friends. Corporate VCs sometimes get a mixed rep in Silicon Valley but in defense, rare is the start-up that can make it far without partnering with an incumbent. They both funded, assisted, and to some degree enabled some of the news following below. The article also highlights how hot Defense VC is right now.  Before offering some historical data points, we ask ourselves, do we have Russia to thank? Prior to the Ukraine invasion (and the Great SaaS Freeze of 2021) that answer was… not so much. Though as the data shows, much better than 5-10 years ago. The article talks about $100B+ in funding for the category the last two years. Last year’s #NatSec100 report calculated the total 2018-22 funding at around $42B.  SVDG’s 2019 paper “DOD Tech Strategy from a VC Perspective” (forgive the horrible title, it was written for a DOD acquisition conference), noted that the 2014 amount was low single digit billions. Momentum, indeed. Ursa Major founder Joe Laurienti offered: “Companies like Ursa Major are able to offer completely new ways of tackling the challenges that face DoD’s need for constant innovation. There is power and excitement in starting with a blank sheet of paper, utilizing the latest innovations in design, testing, and manufacturing defense capabilities.” Over the past year, we have seen DoD’s growing momentum give such innovators the opportunity to show what they can do. On that note, huge shout out to PEO IWS… SVDG industry partner and good friend Ursa Major announced a Navy PEO Integrated Warfare System contract to build solid rocket motors for several Navy missile programs…some old (SM-3, 6) and some new (redacted). PEOs and VC-backed start-ups conducting business together? You have to love this “momentum.” And this is relatively new and exciting. The author of this post has been investing in defense tech in SV for way too long – the first 25 years we saw a total of one actual PEO exec out here in person. Now it’s raining PEOs. Several other SVDG friends were awarded similar contracts (to include friend and sponsor X-Bow Systems Inc. – congrats to the team on this critically important win!) We do know that this particular PEO had a vision of attracting new entrants to its old-school supply base (while adhering to all applicable DOD regs and lawyerly things, of course…). They appear to have begun executing on that vision. The rocket motor monopoly may not be long for this world…stay tuned for a forthcoming SVDG webinar on PEO-Led Innovation where you can hear more about PEO IWS' vision, among others.

It has been a big few weeks in the defense tech ecosystem! As we wrap up an incredible week of activity and connection from the RSA Conference where a number of significant announcements were made, to United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF)'s #GEOINT Symposium to USSOCOM's always anticipated #SOFWEEK, to the Special Competitive Studies Project - SCSP's phenomenal #AI Expo and all of the Annual General Meetings in between (h/t Playground Global for a great one this week, featuring recent SVDG special guests Chris Miller and Steve Blank!) we want to take a moment to highlight a few big wins and celebrate the momentum that is so palpable. In a beautiful way, there are too many to list (given character limits!) in a single post so we'll do a few posts over the next few hours. The BLUF? Defense Tech activity of all sorts is heating up. Andreessen Horowitz raised $600M for #AmericanDynamism. Congress appropriated a massive increase of almost $2B dollars to the the combined DOD #innovation arms. Anduril Industries and General Atomics beat out a handful of well-positioned Primes on the #CCA down-select. xAI raised $6B to build a LLM GigaDataCenter and race towards “Real World AI Agents.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stood up a new AI Safety advisory board, tapping some of the foremost experts from the tech sector. The US Navy awarded contracts to a handful of VC-backed companies for its Standard Missile Program.  The Australian government ‘picked a winner’ and made a big bet on a VC-backed US #quantumcomputing startup. Funding, entrepreneurship, DOD customer engagement, and political support for the NatSec Emerging Tech community has never been higher. Stay tuned for our thoughts on some of the past few weeks' highlights in subsequent posts and get ready for our comprehensive ecosystem analysis for 2024, in our soon-to-be-released, 2nd annual eedition of the SVDG #NatSec100 Report! Oh, we almost forgot…the word “Gundo” entered the NatSec lexicon… for better or worse…

Following the Army’s prototype award for its next-generation ground system to collect and disseminate sensor data, the service is setting its sights on fleshing out production plans for the platform. The Army awarded Palantir a $178.4 million other transaction agreement in March for the Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN). The system is a critical modernization component for the service’s multi-domain operations concept because it will integrate various types of data from numerous platforms — such as space, high-altitude aerial and terrestrial — to help commanders make sense of a fast-moving and complex battlefield. The effort is unique in that it’s one of the first major programs steeped in artificial intelligence, with a software vendor acting as the prime. In fact, Project Linchpin, the Army’s first program-of-record AI operations pipeline, will first be focusing on the TITAN system. https://hubs.li/Q02MbHkn0