Addressing twenty-first-century threats to US national security requires capabilities and capital beyond those of the traditional defense industrial base. Seeding a new industrial base necessitates understanding the incremental milestones that drive funding for venture-backed startups and aligning them with incremental US government innovation funding programs. This essay strongly encourages legislative and policy reform in federal innovation programs to fully maximize the delivery of new advanced capabilities to confront America’s adversaries.
Key Takeaways
- A new generation of venture-backed Silicon Valley leaders has emerged who are focusing on modernizing and expanding military capabilities for US national security.
- Success for this new, nontraditional defense industrial base should be measured by the number of new operational capabilities fielded to warfighters, and related innovation programs should be structured to align government funding awards with typical venture capital fundraising timelines.
- Ultimately, innovation funding alone will not result in a resilient and growing new defense industrial base. Program executive officers must see positive incentives to partner with emerging companies on scalable programs of record.
The Warfighter's Pipeline: A Blueprint for Aligning Venture Capital with Defense Acquisition by Hoover Institution
Cite this essay:
Dan Berkenstock and Jon Chung. “The Warfighter’s Pipeline: A Blueprint for Aligning Defense Acquisition with Venture Capital.” Technology Policy Accelerator, Hoover Institution, March 2025.
