Axios

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Deeper collaboration between defense companies and amongst allied countries is critical to accelerating defense innovation and production, industry insiders said at Axios' Future of Defense roundtable.

Why it matters: The defense sector is flush with emerging tech, but turning those ideas into tangible tools ready for deployment is a complex mission.

Axios' Colin Demarest and Ashley Gold moderated the roundtable discussion on Oct. 22. The event was sponsored by Booz Allen.

4 big takeaways from the conversation:

1. Shifting the focus from competition to collaboration within the private sector is key to creating solutions, said Susanne Hake, general manager of U.S. Government at Vantor. "Historically, a lot of companies have come up with problems wanting to win the entire mission space, and now it's really about interoperability," she said. "It's about working together to kind of bring those solutions to the government."

2. The relationships between Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea appear to be growing closer and the U.S. should look to strengthen partnerships with more allies as well, said Clarion Strategies president Julianne Smith, who is also a former NATO ambassador.

• "They're thinking about it in terms of defense production, about innovation, about AI, you name it. And so we've got to also put our team on the field. We've got to assemble a better network of countries."

3. Global engagement can give the U.S. a strategic edge in both military and economic defense readiness, said Cynthia Kaiser, Halcyon SVP of the Ransomware Research Center.

4. Modular open system architecture "can change the world in which we live in," said Greg Bowman, Siemens Government Technologies chief corporate strategy officer and SVP of the national security division.

• "You have to have a contractor and the government engineers in the same digital ecosystem so they can get those synergies so you don't have to worry about requirements shifting," he said.

Content from the sponsor's opening remarks:

Cameron Mayer, Booz Allen EVP of their defense technology group, said the U.S. is facing some "of the biggest threats since World War II" and that there's "urgent pressure" to help advance AI, cyber and the economy.

• He added that defense leaders have a "desire to expand the defense industrial base and bring that all together for the fight" in order to deliver tech that is ready, tested and proven.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Defense and national security leaders voiced concerns about political dysfunction, foreign adversaries and the need for stronger military and cyber readiness, at Axios' second annual Future of Defense Summit.

Why it matters: With AI and new technologies constantly advancing new military weaponry, defense leaders said it's vital for the U.S. to take steps to invest in innovations to sustain America's strategic edge amid rising global competition.

The Oct. 22 summit was sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Shield AI and Booz Allen.

Here are some takeaways:

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called gathering top generals at Quantico for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Sept. 30 speech a "waste of time."

• "These are busy guys, they're on the front lines, for God's sakes. You don't call them back here to give them a political speech."
• Panetta also said the government shutdown "sends a fundamental message of weakness to all of our adversaries that democracy is not working."

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) warned that China's military arsenal has "advanced at a breathtaking speed" and the U.S. needs to meet that challenge.

ICE is expecting to deport more than 600,000 unauthorized immigrants by the end of the year, U.S. border czar Tom Homan said.

• When asked about ICE agents' aggressive tactics, Homan said ICE is "doing the same thing we've done for 40 years. The difference is right now ICE officers are under great threat, over 1,000% increase in the attacks. ... These men and women are putting themselves at great risk."

Congress should be briefed more on the U.S. military strikes off the Venezuelan coast, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said. "Congress isn't hearing enough — in any form, including a public forum."

• After President Trump canceled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Young said Trump should send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine and "ratchet up the pressure" on Putin.

When it comes to the golden dome, Northrop Grumman chair, president and CEO Kathy Warden said the architecture for Golden Dome and its capabilities "are appropriately being protected by the U.S. government."

Taiwan's Representative to the United States, Alexander Tah-Ray Yui, said Trump's second term is "quite different" than previous administrations. "I would describe the beginning of his term as a 'Christmas period'... you have an advent calendar… and every day is still a surprise."

Content from the sponsored View From the Top conversations:

Frank St. John, Lockheed Martin chief operating officer, discussed the company's vision for the golden dome, saying it's all about "modern deterrence."

• "When we look at the threats that we're seeing in real world events from ballistic missiles, cruise missiles[and] armed drones, we understand that we need to develop a deterrence capability to prevent that from happening in our homeland." St. John added this will take an all-industry approach.

Ryan Tseng, Shield AI co-founder and chief strategy officer, highlighted their new autonomous aircraft X-BAT, which was unveiled at an Axios Live event the evening before the Future of Defense Summit.

• "X-BAT came from us taking a look at the problem in the Pacific and basically seeing a real challenge with runway protection and survivability," Tseng said. "And air power, [as] we can see in Ukraine, is so essential to establishing dominance on the battlefield and when you're unable to project it, it can turn into a really difficult conflict."
• The new aircraft has the capability to launch and land vertically, mitigating any runway vulnerability.

Anthropic's Claude can now remember and incorporate previous conversations into all of your chats over weeks and months, as long as you're a paying subscriber.

Why it matters: Chatbots without memory are like brilliant interns who forget everything once the meeting ends.

Designating illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) should "at least be a discussion," President Trump's border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday during Axios' Future of Defense Summit.

The big picture: Homan emphasized fentanyl is a dangerous drug, citing U.S. death tolls he said are around 73,000 annually and noted the number was higher during the Biden administration.

Thrive Capital, the New York-based VC firm led by Josh Kushner, is raising its latest flagship fund, per SEC filings.

Why it matters: There is no VC firm that makes bigger or brasher bets, including giant checks to Stripe and OpenAI at aneurysm-inducing valuations.

A growing number of people — including AI pioneers and other prominent tech figures — want to stop the development of AI that can outperform all humans.

• A group of scientists, policymakers and actors is calling for a pause on superintelligence until it's proven safe and controllable.

Why it matters: AI development is moving at breakneck speed with minimal oversight and with the full-throated endorsement of the Trump administration.

The Orionid meteor shower is set to treat stargazers to "one of the most beautiful showers of the year" — with streaking meteors and fireballs shooting across the sky as it peaks through Thursday, according to NASA.

The big picture: This meteor shower occurs every year as the Earth passes through the inbound debris stream of Halley's Comet, with the 2025 Orionids active from Oct. 2-Nov. 7 and peaking this week, per an American Meteor Society online post.

Samsung on Tuesday announced Galaxy XR, a $1,799 Android-based headset designed to compete with Apple's Vision Pro.

Why it matters: The device is a fresh bet that virtual reality will stage a comeback after years of failing to break into the mainstream.

Water powers communities, economies and industries. Yet the supply of this vital resource is under increasing strain.