America Needs Better Defense AcquisitionJan 29
how trump can seize the moment, learn from what worked and didn’t work in his first administration, and make generational changes to our defense bureaucracy
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Deal Team Six: The Pentagon Goes Full Wall Street
the department of war is investing in an 'economic defense unit' that will make strategic deals with american defense companies. yes, they'll get paid like bankers, and yes, that's the point.
Ryan Hassan
Mar 19, 2026
The Department of War needs deal guys — and now, it’s going to get them.
As Semafor reports, the Pentagon is now headhunting bankers from top firms like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to create an “Economic Defense Unit,” an in-house team that will make strategic investments in American defense companies to help them build the weapons our Department of War actually needs.
After an astute young man on X dubbed the project “Deal Team Six,” the commentariat was quick to pass judgement on the leaked recruiting deck. “They are making corruption a job perk,” protested one “nonprofit cofounder,” while The New York Times reminded us that “Officials in and around the Trump administration have continually blurred the lines between public service and individual profit seeking.”
But the Economic Defense Unit, aka “Deal Team Six,” is actually pretty important. Especially now.
Most Americans have no idea how few of our exquisite missiles or Mach-speeding fighter jets we can actually produce… nor are they aware of the complexity of the deals involved in making our Department of War actually work.
‘Deal Guy’-Occupied Government
For the past 30 years, the American military has run off five major defense contractors, or “primes.” These contractors guzzle one out of every three dollars we spend on defense. The top players almost never change and have little incentive to compete; they effectively have a monopoly.
This is fine in peacetime, but when we’re at war? It can be catastrophic.
America Needs Better Defense Acquisition
Inside the Culture Clash That Tore Apart the Pentagon’s Anthropic DealMar 6
despite anthropic frustrating the admin with its blogging and very slow 'politburo' of ethicists, emil michael, the pentagon’s head of ai, says he’s still ‘open’ to a deal
105 Likes
8 Comments
The Sound of FuryFeb 23
inside anduril's race to build america's first autonomous fighter jet — and the pentagon's bet that robotic airpower will redefine warfare in the decades to come
71 Likes
5 Comments
Drone Wars (We’re Losing) Jul 9
how the u.s. fell dangerously behind china on drones — and what that means for the future of warfare
8 Likes
1 Comment
The Primacy of WinningApr 8
palantir cto shyam sankar doesn't build high-performing engineering teams, he wins. here's how.
28 Likes
2 Comments
State Capacity Isn't FascismDec 19
tech companies give the government, historically dumb and slow, cutting-edge tools to enforce the law of the land. don't like it? change the law, don't blame the toolmakers.
54 Likes
4 Comments