Scoop: Former Trump admin AG Bill Barr advising military drone maker
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer. Photos: Thomas Kronsteiner, Drew Angerer and Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
Bill Barr, the former U.S. attorney general, is advising military drone maker Dzyne following its acquisition of defense tech company High Point Aerotechnologies, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: This is his only gig advising a defense company, and Barr is one of several Trump administration alumni now at Dzyne, pronounced "design."
The big picture: A worldwide artificial intelligence race and lessons gleaned from the Russia-Ukraine war have propelled government demand for autonomous technologies.
- From border security and counter-narcotics operations to battlefield surveillance and tank busting, drones have a wide range of domestic and defense applications.
What they're saying: Barr saw the world enter "the age of drones" while he was the nation's top law enforcement official, he told Axios in an interview.
- Unmanned aerial systems were once few and far between — tools of an exclusive club. That's no longer the case.
- "I think it's going to be a very dynamic area, where offense and defense are constantly jockeying for position," Barr said.
- They're also "a cost-effective way of covering a big area and coordinating enforcement response."
State of play: Along with Barr, Dzyne has attracted Chris Miller, a former acting secretary of defense, to serve as chief strategy officer; Marshall Billingslea, a former special presidential envoy for arms control, as a special adviser; and Joe Francescon, a counterterrorism expert previously on the National Security Council and a former deputy chief of staff at the Defense Department, as chief of government affairs.
- As a paid adviser, Barr said he'll help Dzyne spot law enforcement opportunities, "particularly on the border," and connect the company to his network abroad.
Zoom in: The U.S. military has for years used hardware and software from Dzyne.
- Its Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft — which costs millions of dollars, with exact price depending on payload and mission — can fly for more than three days and spy on targets hundreds of miles away.
- Dzyne furnishes other arms, as well, such as the Dronebuster handheld jammer.
Zoom out: Dzyne, owned by private equity firm Highlander Partners, sees itself competing with buzzy, Andreessen Horowitz-backed Anduril Industries as well as AeroVironment, General Atomics and others.
- Its acquisition of High Point Aerotechnologies, a two-year-old company based in Dallas, Texas and also owned by Highlander Partners, closed in April for an undisclosed sum.
- The deal has not been previously reported and is taking place amid a broader surge in M&A deals in the U.S. this year.
What we're watching: Defense tech is attracting huge sums from Silicon Valley's biggest investors, including Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, as the Defense Department changes its buying habits.
