Mission Matters Podcast

Ben Kohlmann is the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, the chief talent officer for a workforce of more than a million people. A former F-18 carrier pilot who went on to work in venture capital and run a hard-tech startup, he now oversees recruiting, retention, and readiness across the Department of the Navy.

Maggie Gray and David Rothzeid talk with him about moving the Navy's personnel system out of the industrial age, bringing commercial tech talent into uniform through the Naval Innovation Unit, reforming shipyard pay to compete with the private sector, and preparing for the demographic cliff coming to military recruiting.

As always, please let us know what you think. And please reach out if you or anyone you know is building at the intersection of technology and national security.

Explore Shield Capital's portfolio and thesis at: https://shieldcap.com/

Follow Shield Capital and the Mission Matter Podcast on LinkedIn to catch every episode of Mission Matters: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mission-matters-podcast/

Language models aren't the only path to intelligence. For physics, the primitive is fields.In this episode of the Mission Matters Podcast, Maggie Gray and Akhil Iyer sit down with Pratap Ranade, CEO & Co-Founder of Arena Physica, to discuss how he and his team are building electromagnetic superintelligence. Pratap breaks down Atlas, an agentic platform that pairs non-deterministic AI agents with deterministic physics and simulation models, and Heaviside, the first foundation model for RF design, trained on electromagnetic fields instead of words.They cover why hardware's software-defined future makes electromagnetism matter more than ever, how Heaviside hit its "GPT-1 moment" with fully autonomous RF design, how Arena generates training data in a field with none publicly available, the pivot that deleted a double-digit-million revenue stream, and Pratap's vision for a new kind of Bell Labs.As always, please let us know what you think. And please reach out if you or anyone you know is building at the intersection of technology and national security. Explore Shield Capital's portfolio and thesis at: https://shieldcap.com/Follow Shield Capital and the Mission Matter Podcast on LinkedIn to catch every episode of Mission Matters: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mission-matters-podcast/ Visit Arena Physica's website: https://www.arenaphysica.com/0:00 – Introduction2:37 – What is electromagnetic superintelligence?5:20 – The current state of design tools8:09 – What "software-defined" actually means12:28 – Pairing non-deterministic agents with deterministic physics18:01 – Building a foundation model for RF22:43 – Where the training data comes from25:06 – From pilot to rollout: patterns across industries30:05 – Winning over the skeptics34:48 – Using Atlas internally: DJI drone teardowns36:59 – The vision: a new Bell Labs40:08 – The hardest moment building Arena43:08 – Closing advice: build stupidly ambitious things

In this Techquisition Edition of The Mission Matters Podcast, Maggie Gray and David Rothzeid break down Secretary Hegseth's new memo establishing a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager (DRPM) for unmanned and autonomous systems.

David unpacks what a DRPM actually is, how it differs from traditional Portfolio Acquisition Executives and Joint Program Offices, and why this new "czar" reports directly to the Deputy Secretary of Defense with authority to redirect funding and set standards across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. They trace the historical precedent back to JIEDDO and the MRAP program, walk through where Replicator, the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), JIATF 401, and Drone Dominance now fit under this new structure, and dig into the budget realities, including the proposed $54 billion request for the DAWG and what a likely continuing resolution means for FY27.

They close with practical guidance for founders and investors: how to navigate a rapidly shifting stakeholder landscape, why engaging with the Defense Innovation Unit matters more than ever, and what to expect as the fiscal year turns over.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

01:46 – What is a DRPM, and why create one for unmanned systems (UXS)?

03:26 – DRPM vs. PEO/PAE vs. Joint Program Office (F-35 JPO example)

05:53 – Who controls the budget and contract decisions in the short term

07:39 – Historical precedent: JIEDDO and the MRAP

09:06 – Recent DRPM examples: Golden Dome, submarines, B-21/F-47

10:23 – New DRPM authorities over budgeting and the DAWG's $54B request

11:52 – How the DRPM folds in Replicator, DAWG, Drone Dominance, and JIATF 401

14:11 – Why now: commercial tech has outpaced how the Pentagon employs drones

16:33 – DIU's expanded role as the industry front door

18:15 – Budget breakdown: Replicator, DAWG, JIATF 401 funding history

20:11 – Outlook on Congress passing a budget vs. another continuing resolution

20:46 – Advice for startup founders and investors

23:07 – Closing thoughts and next episode preview

The Magura family of USVs, built by UFORCE, sank 14 Russian warships. UFORCE air systems have flown over 220,000 combat missions and downed two Su-30 fighter jets — all in under three years of operation.

In this episode, CEO Oleg Rogynskyy joins David and Maggie to talk about building Ukraine's first defense tech unicorn from the front lines: how UFORCE manufactures under missile threat, why most Western defense tech fails the "coconut test," and what the US military should be buying right now.

Topics covered: autonomous systems, drone warfare, defense acquisition, Indo-Pacific strategy, Ukraine lessons for the West, and scaling a defense company from warzone to global market.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction(02:14) UFORCE's Platforms and Combat Effects in Ukraine(06:32) Building a Defense Unicorn in Wartime(10:51) Applying Silicon Valley Lessons to Defense(13:33) Hardening Systems for Real Combat(15:12) Autonomy and the Bottom-Up Adoption Model(18:47) Ukraine's Outcomes-Based Acquisition Revolution(23:17) Lessons for Iran, Hormuz, and US Conflicts(26:30) Scaling to the US: Hiring Sean Planke(30:20) What Western Defense Tech Misunderstands(32:44) Manufacturing and Supply Chain Under Fire(36:52) Global Demand Across Four Theaters(40:29) The Future of UFORCE(42:44) If Oleg Were US Secretary of War

AI made writing code cheap. Verifying it is the new bottleneck.

Peter Morales, CEO and co-founder of Code Metal, joins Maggie Gray and Pat O'Reilly to talk about modernizing the legacy code running US national security — and why formal verification is the durable moat in an era of commodity AI code generation.

Founded in 2023, Code Metal has raised ~$200M and signed contracts with the US Air Force, L3Harris, RTX, and Toshiba. Projects that used to take engineering teams months now take minutes.

In this episode:

• Why US weapons systems still run on COBOL, Fortran, and Ada
• How Code Metal pairs LLMs with formal verification for safety-critical code
• Why the verification layer is more valuable than the model itself
• Peter's advice for founders building in defense tech

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(2:10) Why would you want translate code?

(4:11) How does Code Metal accelerate this process?

(5:27) Customer interest in Code Metal

(6:22) Outdated weapons systems programming language

(8:39) Code Metal's formula

(12:14) How does Code Metal choose a model to use

(14:11) Lessons learned from working in international markets

(15:20) Navigating commercial and government customers

(18:03) Getting approval to work with classified customers

(19:46) Customer success stories

(23:06) Building trust with mission-critical customers

(24:10) Why did you decide to start your own company?

(26:22) How do you approach recruitment for working in a startup?

(28:47) Biggest changes in defense space over Peter's career

(30:11) Advice for founders and investors to leverage a board

(32:16) Lessons from Ukraine and Middle East conflicts

(33:10) Subcontracting as a way to gain access to larger contracts

(34:39) What's next for Code Metal?

(35:38) Biggest surprised building Code Metal

(36:19) Advice for founders building in the national security domain

After a 6 month lapse, the SBIR program is officially back following Congressional reauthorization.

In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, we sit down with Chris Benson, the CTO of Istari Digital and an Air Force acquisition pioneer who was one of the architects behind the modernization of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program during his time at AFWERX.

We discuss:

• How SBIR evolved from a slow, lab-driven R&D program into a real commercialization pathway

• Why Open Topic and TACFI/STRATFI changed the game for venture-backed defense startups

• What the new Strategic Breakthrough Awards mean for scaling to production

• Why founders need to think about Phase III and production contracts from day one

• How proposal caps, foreign due diligence, and other new rules could reshape the program going forward

As always, please let us know what you think. And please reach out if you or anyone you know is building at the intersection of technology and national security.

Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen David Goldfein (Ret.) and former CIA Middle East expert Norm Roule break down recent U.S.-Israeli military operations in Iran

Drones are re-defining modern warfare – and the U.S. is behind. On the latest Mission Matters episode, we sat down with Andy Yakulis, CEO & Co-Founder of Vector Defense, to discuss what it will actually take to achieve American Drone Dominance.

Vector isn’t just building drones. They describe their business model as “Modern Warfare as a Service.” Instead of waiting years to push hardware through traditional procurement pathways, they deliver integrated capability — technology, tactics, training, and battlefield feedback loops — under service contracts that tap into O&M funding.

We discuss:- Why the Pentagon’s $1B Drone Dominance initiative is the clearest USG demand signal for attritable systems yet
- How “Drone as a Service” business model unlocks O&M funding (the largest color of money)
- Lessons from Ukraine & Israel (and why it’s not copy-paste for the U.S.)
- Building a China-free supply chain and re-industrializing American drone manufacturing

Space is a contested domain. Russian and Chinese satellites are conducting proximity operations near American satellites. Critical U.S. and allied infrastructure depends on space-based assets that can be inspected, approached — or interfered with. On the latest Mission Matters episode, we sat down with Austin Link, CEO of Starfish Space, to discuss why rendezvous & proximity operations (RPO) are becoming mission-critical.

Starfish is building “space tugs” that can dock with and move other satellites — extending mission life, disposing of debris, and enabling other national security use cases. Their recent Remora mission autonomously maneuvered one satellite within 1,250 meters of another, validating a core thesis: software can radically lower the cost of operating in orbit.

We discuss:

• Why affordability and scale matter as much as exquisite capability in a contested domain

• The role RPO plays in U.S. military operations

• The current state of our adversaries’ orbital warfare capabilities

• How SBIR → STRATFI can be a springboard to building a scalable business

• Navigating classified work without slowing commercial velocity

• Where LEO, GEO, and cislunar actually fit in over the next five years

• The power of software to conduct complex RPO missions with relatively cheap, simple hardware

As always, please let us know what you think. And please reach out if you or anyone you know is building at the intersection of technology and national security.

🚨EMERGENCY POD! The DoW has officially released a new AI strategy, and along with it a whole slew of new reforms to the Defense Innovation Ecosystem. In the newest episode of the Techquisition Edition of the Mission Matters podcast (link below), David and I break down the DoW’s new AI strategy, the major changes to the defense innovation ecosystem, and what all these new initiatives mean for startups.

We discuss:

• What it means for DIU and SCO to be designated as “field activities”
• What new major AI projects the DoW is starting
• How DoW is investing in data and compute infrastructure to enable rapid AI adoption
• New initiatives in the services and PAEs designed to bring innovation into the hands of warfighters
• And more!

As always, please let us know your thoughts, and please reach out if you or anyone you know is building at the intersection of commercial technology and national security. 

DoW AI Strategy: https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/12/2003855671/-1/-1/0/ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE-STRATEGY-FOR-THE-DEPARTMENT-OF-WAR.PDF

Transforming the Defense Innovation Ecosystem to Accelerate Warfighter Advantage memo: https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/12/2003855657/-1/-1/0/TRANSFORMING-THE-DEFENSE-INNOVATION-ECOSYSTEM-TO-ACCELERATE-WARFIGHTING-ADVANTAGE.PDF

Transforming Advana to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence and Enhance Auditability Memo: https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/12/2003855671/-1/-1/0/ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE-STRATEGY-FOR-THE-DEPARTMENT-OF-WAR.PDF

This episode of the Mission Matters podcast features a conversation between Shield Capital Managing Partner Philip Bilden and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (ret.) on recent U.S. strikes on Venezuela. This episode covers everything from:

• The operational complexity of modern joint warfare and the role of commercial technology

• Why Venezuela has become a strategic linchpin in the Western Hemisphere

• What the operation signals to China, Russia, and other adversaries about U.S. resolve and deterrence.

• And more!

As always, please let us know your thoughts, and please let us know if you or anyone you know is building at the intersection of national security and commercial technology. Tune in next month for our next episode!

In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, Akhil and Maggie sit down with Andrew Puryear, the CTO of L3Harris, the 6th largest U.S. defense prime, to discuss L3Harris's "trusted disruptor strategy." As part of this strategy, L3Harris partners with startups to bring cutting edge capabilities to the warfighter. We cover:

- How startups should approach working with large primes

- What lessons the U.S. should (and shouldn't) be learning from the war in Ukraine

- The role AI, electronic warfare, air and missile defense, and more will have on future battlefields

- And much more

As always, please reach out if you or anyone you know is building in the national security startup space.

Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released a memo outlining a series of reforms to the defense acquisition system. In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, David Rothzeid and Mike Brown break down what these reforms are and what impact they will have on the defense startup community.

We cover:

• The details of the reforms themselves (abolishing JCIDS, changing PEOs to PAEs, MOSA, and more)
• Why some legacy incumbents may resist these changes
• How to incentivize people within the Department to make these reforms a reality
• How startups should work to take advantage of the reforms
• And more

For more, check out David's blog post on the subject: https://drothzeid.medium.com/making-speed-and-accountability-the-new-normal-in-defense-acquisition-88cb84adfb65

There’s a lot of buzz these days around missile defense, but not much discussion around how missile defense actually works. In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, Matt and I sit down with Shield Capital Operating Partner and former Director of the Missile Defense Agency, Ltg. (ret.) Pat O’Reilly, to discuss the current state of missile defense.

We cover:

• How missile defense actually works, breaking down a) the threats b) the kill chain and c) firing doctrine

• How missile defense has changed over the last several decades

• The role of startups and emerging technologies in the future of missile defense

• The state of our adversaries’ missile and missile defense systems

  
  

As always, please let us know your thoughts, and please reach out if you or anyone you know is building in the national security domain.

In this episode, we speak with Mike Flanigan, the CEO of Seasats, a startup building the future of maritime autonomy.

This month on the Mission Matters podcast, we sat down with Justin Fanelli, the CTO of the U.S. Department of the Navy, and Artem Sherbinin, the CTO of the U.S. Surface Navy to discuss the future software-defined Navy. We cover everything from computer vision deployment in the maritime domain to why technology will matter in a conflict with China to what “software defined warfare” actually means.

As always, please let us know your thoughts, and please reach out if you or anyone you know is building in the national security domain.

Key words: Navy, technology adoption, software-defined systems, integration, resilient communications, data integration, hybrid forces, geopolitical context, defense technology, innovation, AI integration, defense tech startups, naval operations, generative AI, military technology, DOD tech adoption, Ukraine conflict lessons, computer vision, maritime technology, startup advice

Chapters

• Introduction to the Guests and Their Roles

• Challenges in Technology Adoption and Integration

• The Future of Software-Defined Warfare

• The Importance of Data Integration

• Geopolitical Context and the Navy's Role

• The Urgency of Technological Integration in Defense

• Reviving Patriotism and National Security

• Success Stories in Defense Technology Integration

• Building Effective Partnerships for Innovation

• Key Metrics for Measuring Success in Defense

• Integrating New Technologies with Existing Systems

• Learning from Successful Startups in Defense

• Advice for Startups Entering the Defense Space

• Innovative Program Management in Defense

• Strategic Partnerships and Funding Mechanisms

• Outcome-Driven Metrics and Accountability

• Future Wishes for Defense Technology

• Lessons from Ukraine for Indo-Pacific Conflicts

• Generative AI in the Navy

• Challenges of Technology Integration in the DoD

• Building for the Navy: Unique Considerations

• Computer Vision in the Maritime Domain

• Adversaries' Adoption of Maritime Technologies

• Understanding Adversaries' Military Technology Approaches

This episode of the Mission Matters podcast features a conversation between Shield Capital Managing Partner Philip Bilden and Vice Admiral Kevin “Kid” Donegan. This episode covers everything from:

• The role of cutting edge technology like cybersecurity, drones, and AI in the conflict

• The current state of Iranian proxy forces in the Middle East

• How the conflict in the Middle East compares to Ukraine

• And more!

Keywords: Middle East, geopolitical briefing, national security, technology in warfare, nuclear program, Iran, US-Israel relations, cyber operations, AI

Chapters

Introduction to SHIELD Capital and Geopolitical Briefing
Admiral Kevin Donaghan's Background and Experience
Recent Activities in the Middle East
Command Responsibilities in Iraq and Afghanistan
Assessment of the Recent Conflict and Ceasefire
Iran's Military Capabilities and Regional Dynamics
Technological Advancements in Military Operations
The Role of Cyber in Modern Warfare
Leadership Assessment in Crisis Operations
Iran's Nuclear Program and Military Strategy
Regime Stability and Prospects for Change in Iran
US-Israel Relations and Military Collaboration
Iran's Global Influence and Terrorism Concerns
Geopolitical Implications for China and Russia
Investment in AI and Technology by Gulf Allies
The Future of GPS and Warfare Technology
Cybersecurity Threats from State Actors

In this episode, Patrick O'Brien and Bohdan Volyanyuk, the founders of Autonomous Cyber discuss the evolution of cyber operations, the integration of AI in cybersecurity, and the challenges faced in modern warfare. They explore the concept of dual-use technology, the significance of the fifth domain in conflict, and the impact of generative AI on both offensive and defensive strategies. The conversation highlights the importance of upskilling cyber professionals and the innovative approaches being taken to enhance cybersecurity capabilities. In this conversation, Patrick and Bohdan discuss the rapid evolution of AI models in cybersecurity, the importance of user experience, and the challenges of building trust within government technology. They emphasize the need for continuous innovation and adaptation in a fast-paced environment, while also addressing the significance of integrating workflows and overcoming adoption hurdles. The discussion highlights the value of user feedback and the importance of building strong relationships with clients in the national security sector. We discuss: The Emergence of Autonomous Cyber Operations

Alex Wulff, Ben Harpe, and Isaac Struhl are the founders of Distributed Spectrum, a New York City based startup using machine learning, edge processing, and off the shelf hardware to provide a comprehensive, real-time view of the radiofrequency (RF) environment to help warfighters manage electronic warfare.In this episode we discuss:- The Modern Battlefield and Electronic Warfare- The Origin Story of Distributed Spectrum- Understanding Electronic Warfare- The Evolution of Electronic Warfare Technology- Customer Insights and Product Development- First Customer Experience and Product Validation- Ease of Use in Electronic Warfare Tools- Future of RF Sensing and Technology Evolution- Challenges and Opportunities in the National Security Market- Building Trust and Relationships with National Security Customers- Navigating the Unclassified Space- Innovations in RF Technology- The New York Advantage- Balancing Performance and Efficiency- Integrating with Legacy Systems- Building a Diverse Team for Success in National Security- Surprises and Challenges in the Journey- Advice for Future Founders in National Security