Axios Event: Public and private sector leaders on the future of U.S. defense capabilities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Axios' Future of Defense event highlighted private sector innovations, government and military leaders who are forging a new national security vision for the United States in an age of data, autonomy and industry upheaval.

• The event was sponsored by McKinsey & Company and GE Aerospace.

Why it matters: As the U.S. races against adversaries in a new era of warfare, the importance of supremacy in emerging defense technologies cannot be understated.

What they're saying: "My hope is that Secretary Hegseth will prioritize how we can enhance deterrence in the near term," Palantir head of defense Mike Gallagher told Axios' Mike Allen of his hope for president-elect Trump's nominee for defense secretary.

• "My concern is that we find ourselves mired in cultural or political issues, and we don't get the actual meaningful modernization that we need done," Gallagher continued.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said he hadn't heard of Hegseth until the night prior, adding that "we want qualified individuals" for the job.

William LaPlante, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, expressed shock at the Houthi arsenal and their increasingly sophisticated weapons.

• "I'm an engineer and a physicist, and I've been around missiles my whole career. What I've seen of what the Houthis have done in the last six months is something that – I'm just shocked," LaPlante said to Colin Demarest.

In the private sector, companies like Anduril are preparing to scale up production following the Defense Department's focus on drone-neutralizing technologies in its latest Replicator initiative.

• "Next year we're going to have a 250 percent increase in production across the board for all the different systems we have, which is awesome," Anduril co-founder and CEO Brian Schimpf said.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, McKinsey & Company senior partner Ryan Brukardt shared what lessons emerging defense tech startups can take from today's industry landscape.

• "We definitely want the innovation amongst the tech startups. However, we also need to be able to deliver. As you think about what's happened over the last 20 years, that ability to not only innovate but also deliver is really important," Brukardt said.