Cogs of War
@cogs0fwar.bsky.social
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https://warontherocks.com/category/blogs/cogs-of-war/
The secretary’s speech made the case for speed and reform. The system will only deliver it if budget law, training, and congressional trust evolve with it.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/acqu...
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Acquisition Transformation: How to Make it Last
There are plenty of elements to praise in Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s acquisition transformation announcement last week. The emphasis on speed and
https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/acquisition-transformation-how-to-make-it-last/
2 days ago
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The U.S. military has more autonomy programs than it can count — and fewer standards than it takes to make them work.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/with...
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Without a Standard for Autonomy, the U.S. Military Will Get Lost in the Fog of War
Popular culture often distorts autonomy into science fiction caricatures. This framing obscures the real challenges and opportunities facing the U.S.
https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/without-a-standard-for-autonomy-the-u-s-military-will-get-lost-in-the-fog-of-war/
3 days ago
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Modern intelligence lives in the open, but it takes mastery to stay unseen. This conversation explores the new hidden tradecraft of the open web. Listen here:
pod.link/1818133762/e...
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7 days ago
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The U.S. Navy’s production bottleneck isn’t theoretical. It’s now, and onshoring commercial shipping won’t fix it.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/amer...
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America Should Build Its Own Warships While Buying Tankers
Shipbuilding is having a moment in Washington. That’s great, but hype doesn’t float boats. Reshoring commercial shipbuilding is billed as the key to
https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/america-should-build-its-own-warships-while-buying-tankers/
8 days ago
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Engineers measure trust in data integrity. Lawyers measure it in liability. Operators measure it in survival. The Pentagon needs an arbiter who can make those tradeoffs real.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/warf...
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Warfighters, Not Engineers, Decide What AI Can Be Trusted
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series exploring key AI policy choices faced by the Department of Defense and Congress. Please also read the first:
https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/warfighters-not-engineers-decide-what-ai-can-be-trusted/
9 days ago
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The defense enterprise keeps choosing the easy wrong: another patch, another pilot, another promise. The harder right is to rebuild.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/a-cl...
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A Clean Sheet Redesign of the Small Business Innovation Research Program
At a certain point in software development, patches, fixes, and repairs hit a point of diminishing returns. The system becomes so saturated with technical
https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/a-clean-sheet-redesign-of-the-small-business-innovation-research-program/
10 days ago
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The United States has built momentum in quantum. Smart policy will decide if it becomes an American jobs story.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/igni...
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Igniting the American Quantum Economy
Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a four-part series. The first article, “America’s Quantum Moment,” was published on Oct. 13, 2025, and the
https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/igniting-the-american-quantum-economy/
15 days ago
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These companies are building fast, cheap, and upgradable missiles. Will Washington catch up? Listen here:
pod.link/1818133762/e...
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21 days ago
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A policy meant to streamline software procurement could instead grind innovation to a halt.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-...
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The Air Force is Kneecapping Software Innovation
The Department of the Air Force chief information officer announced a new policy change by sharing a post from a contractor, with the tag, “Strategic
https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-air-force-is-kneecapping-software-innovation/
23 days ago
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The quantum race isn’t just about qubits. It’s about what keeps them cold, powered, and pure. The second piece in our series examines the supply chains that decide who will build the future.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-...
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The Supply Chain Chokepoints in Quantum
Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a four-part series. The first article, “America’s Quantum Moment,” was published on Oct. 13, 2025. As
https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-supply-chain-chokepoints-in-quantum/
24 days ago
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Quantum technology is moving from labs to markets. America’s strategy needs to keep pace.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/amer...
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America’s Quantum Manufacturing Moment
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a four-part series. The world is in the early stages of the next industrial revolution: quantum technology. The
https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/americas-quantum-manufacturing-moment/
about 1 month ago
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Most AI debates fixate on budgets or “killer robots.” The deeper questions are harder. This article is the first in a series confronting them.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/four...
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Four AI Policy Choices Policymakers Can’t Afford to Get Wrong
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles. Subsequent articles will examine answers to each of the four questions laid out below. As
https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/four-ai-policy-choices-policymakers-cant-afford-to-get-wrong/
about 1 month ago
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The U.S. government can build fabs. The real test is whether “chip-for-chip” can make them run.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/can-...
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Can Lutnick’s Chip-for-Chip Idea Work?
The Commerce Department’s imminent Section 232 investigation — launched in April and expected to conclude soon — may fundamentally shift how the United
https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/can-lutnicks-chip-for-chip-idea-work/
about 1 month ago
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Dual-use tech is booming, but inflated valuations and shaky defense budgets could spell trouble. What does it take to succeed? Listen here:
pod.link/1818133762/e...
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about 1 month ago
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The future of war isn’t just cyber and space. Biology is moving to the front lines.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/when...
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https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/when-biology-meets-the-battlefield-an-interview-with-diane-dieuliis/
about 1 month ago
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Politics, profit, and propulsion collide in the story of this American space launch company. Listen here:
pod.link/1818133762
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about 2 months ago
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Golden Dome is not one design but many. Each architecture carries its own price and its own risks.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/gold...
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Golden Dome is a Trillion Dollar Gambit
U.S. President Donald Trump set high expectations for “Golden Dome.” His executive order directing development of this homeland air and missile defense
https://warontherocks.com/2025/09/golden-dome-is-a-trillion-dollar-gambit/
about 2 months ago
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These authors reflect on their war techno-thriller that imagined the future fight — and then watched much of it come true.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/ghos...
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Ghost Fleet, Ten Years Later: An Interview with P.W. Singer and August Cole
This exclusive Cogs of War interview is with P.W. Singer and August Cole, who in 2015 published Ghost Fleet, a futuristic thriller depicting the next
https://warontherocks.com/2025/09/ghost-fleet-ten-years-later-an-interview-with-p-w-singer-and-august-cole/
about 2 months ago
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House and Senate appropriators shape the future of U.S. defense. This year, their bills reveal clear strategic contrasts.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/exam...
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Examining House–Senate Differences in FY2026 Defense Appropriations
The House and Senate appropriations committees each approved their own versions of the Fiscal Year 2026 Department of Defense Appropriations Act in July,
https://warontherocks.com/2025/09/examining-house-senate-differences-in-fy2026-defense-appropriations/
2 months ago
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Data centers are no longer back-end utilities. They are strategic assets — and prime targets.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/data...
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Data Centers on the 21st Century Battlefield
The most decisive infrastructure of the twenty-first century isn’t an aircraft carrier floating in the Pacific or buried in a missile silo. It hums
https://warontherocks.com/2025/09/data-centers-on-the-21st-century-battlefield/
2 months ago
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Testing doesn’t have to slow innovation. With the right tools, it can accelerate it.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/the-...
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The Pentagon’s Software Revolution and Its Testing Dilemma
On a desert airstrip, swarms of autonomous drones rise into the sky — a glimpse of the Pentagon’s vision for future war. The Navy has even shown it can
https://warontherocks.com/2025/09/the-pentagons-software-revolution-and-its-testing-dilemma/
2 months ago
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The Pentagon’s rare earth deal showed chokepoints can be fixed with the right tools. The same playbook must be extended across the materials supply chain before it is too late.
warontherocks.com/2025/08/thes...
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These Materials Could Cripple America’s Defense Industrial Base - War on the Rocks
The Pentagon’s arsenal and defense industrial base is built on materials that China can turn off like a light switch. Growing uncertainty in critical
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/these-materials-could-cripple-americas-defense-industrial-base/
3 months ago
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Silicon Valley promises to reinvent defense. But behind the hype, Jonathan Panter argues, the business model looks familiar.
warontherocks.com/2025/08/a-sk...
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A Skeptic’s View of the Hype Machine and Business Model of Neo-Defense Tech - War on the Rocks
Anduril, the $30 billion defense startup, is on a roll. In May, it partnered with Meta to build virtual reality devices for the U.S. Army. In July, it won
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/a-skeptics-view-of-the-hype-machine-and-business-model-of-neo-defense-tech/
3 months ago
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This CEO made America home — and he knows pushing defense innovation faster is the only way forward. Listen here:
pod.link/1818133762/e...
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3 months ago
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Some interceptors must push physics. Others must roll off the line. Golden Dome needs both.
warontherocks.com/2025/08/gold...
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Golden Dome’s Gamble: Can Industry Move Fast Enough to Matter? - War on the Rocks
In 2019, China's military showcased a hypersonic ballistic missile reportedly capable of breaching existing anti-missile shields. The question facing U.S.
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/golden-domes-gamble-can-industry-move-fast-enough-to-matter/
3 months ago
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Kicking off our written interview series, Perry Boyle takes us inside Ukraine’s growing defense industry and his mission to scale its wartime tech.
warontherocks.com/2025/08/inve...
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Investing in Ukraine’s Defense Edge: A Conversation with Perry Boyle - War on the Rocks
This exclusive Cogs of War interview is with Perry Boyle, the CEO and co-founder of MITS Capital LLC, which is working to bring capital to the Ukrainian
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/investing-in-ukraines-defense-edge-a-conversation-with-perry-boyle/
3 months ago
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A career-ending injury could have ended Joe Musselman's commitment to serve. Instead, it fueled a new mission. Listen here:
pod.link/1818133762/e...
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3 months ago
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A military equipped with AI is not the same as a military prepared to use it well.
warontherocks.com/2025/08/buil...
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Building Trust in Military AI Starts with Opening the Black Box - War on the Rocks
At high-profile TED-style events with millions of online viewers, charismatic tech CEOs take the stage to unveil their latest gadgets. In slick,
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/building-trust-in-military-ai-starts-with-opening-the-black-box/
3 months ago
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Not all AI innovation should fly under the regulatory radar.
warontherocks.com/2025/08/high...
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High-Risk AI Models Need Military-Grade Security - War on the Rocks
The race to develop artificial general intelligence is accelerating, but America’s approach to securing it remains dangerously inadequate. While
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/high-risk-ai-models-need-military-grade-security/
3 months ago
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Fear culture still rules Pentagon acquisitions. What can leaders do to fix it? Listen here:
warontherocks.com/2025/07/solv...
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3 months ago
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Despite recent top-down orders and reforms, fear of getting it wrong keeps the Pentagon locked in old acquisition habits. What would it take to break free? Listen here:
open.spotify.com/episode/5sIx...
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4 months ago
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As NATO works to restore the alliance’s technological edge, Europe’s tech entrepreneurs are experiencing a new innovation renaissance.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/time...
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Time to Supercharge Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem - War on the Rocks
Commercial drones repurposed within weeks, counter-drone systems developed and tested in real time — Ukraine’s battlefield innovations have shown that
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/time-to-supercharge-europes-innovation-ecosystem/
4 months ago
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America’s defense edge comes from tapping all strengths, not narrowing the field.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/tita...
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Titans, Trailblazers, and Translators: Forging a Unified Defense Industrial Paradigm - War on the Rocks
A foundational, and increasingly dangerous, tension defines the American defense enterprise. It is a narrative that pits industrial mass against digital
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/titans-trailblazers-and-translators-forging-a-unified-defense-industrial-paradigm/
4 months ago
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America’s drone arsenal could scale overnight, but manufacturers still lack a clear reason to pivot.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/fact...
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Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts - War on the Rocks
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield. Recognizing that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/factories-first-winning-the-drone-war-before-it-starts/
4 months ago
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The promise of military dominance through networks and code means little if those systems can’t perform when warfare becomes unpredictable and chaotic.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/fric...
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Friction, Fog, and Failure in a Software-Defined Force - War on the Rocks
The U.S. military is rushing toward a software-defined future, one where networks are unified, platforms are cloud-connected, and the fight is shaped by
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/friction-fog-and-failure-in-a-software-defined-force/
4 months ago
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For the unmanned maritime startups lucky enough to survive the first valley of death, a second valley — the struggle to make startups creditworthy to support long-term leases — proves equally daunting, writes Mark Wooters.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/unma...
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https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/unmanned-unfinanceable-the-problems-with-scaling-americas-autonomous-fleet/
4 months ago
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How does a small country build a defense advantage? Latvia’s ambitious approach combines local industry, expansive training ranges, and lessons from the front lines. Listen here:
warontherocks.com/2025/07/less...
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4 months ago
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The jobs are there, the pay is strong, but America’s next generation isn’t flocking to shipbuilding. What should come next?
warontherocks.com/2025/07/a-wo...
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A Workforce Strategy for America’s Shipbuilding Future - War on the Rocks
It’s no secret that America’s shipbuilding workforce is in crisis. The nation is struggling to retain a sufficient workforce to meet existing
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/a-workforce-strategy-for-americas-shipbuilding-future/
4 months ago
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Want a faster, more agile Pentagon? These two bills could be the key. See what Congress is proposing in its latest defense overhaul.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/the-...
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The SPEED and FoRGED Acts Compared - War on the Rocks
On June 9, House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers and Ranking Member Adam Smith introduced H.R. 3838, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/the-speed-and-forged-acts-compared/
4 months ago
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What’s the secret to aerospace innovation that’s practical, powerful, and priced right? Listen here:
warontherocks.com/2025/06/insi...
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5 months ago
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Warfighters want tech now, but the government worries about vendor lock, data rights, and architecture. Can we have both speed and control? Listen here:
warontherocks.com/2025/06/the-...
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5 months ago
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When the defense industry joins the fight in wargames, better policies and smarter strategies follow.
warontherocks.com/2025/06/putt...
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Putting the Defense Industry Through Wargames – War on the Rocks
https://warontherocks.com/2025/06/putting-the-defense-industry-through-wargames/
5 months ago
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Leaders keep calling for America to rebuild its arsenal of democracy, but that era is gone. How can it be done?
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How the Arsenal of Democracy Can Get Back on its Feet with Some Help from the Past – War on the Rocks
https://warontherocks.com/2025/06/how-the-arsenal-of-democracy-can-get-back-on-its-feet-with-some-help-from-the-past/
5 months ago
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reposted by
Cogs of War
Ryan Evans
5 months ago
Austin Gray offers some real talk on what software oriented nontraditionals can offer to American shipbuilding for
@cogs0fwar.bsky.social
warontherocks.com/2025/06/stee...
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Steel and Silicon: Shipbuilding’s Defense Tech Moment – War on the Rocks
https://warontherocks.com/2025/06/steel-and-silicon-shipbuildings-defense-tech-moment/
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Shipyards are skeptical, tech firms are ambitious — can they find common ground and deliver the ships America needs?
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Steel and Silicon: Shipbuilding’s Defense Tech Moment – War on the Rocks
https://warontherocks.com/2025/06/steel-and-silicon-shipbuildings-defense-tech-moment/
5 months ago
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The Defense Department struggles to adopt high-tech solutions. These experts reveal how to change that. Listen here:
warontherocks.com/2025/06/the-...
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5 months ago
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reposted by
Cogs of War
War on the Rocks
5 months ago
If you have something to say about defense technology and industry, we want your voice. Contribute to Cogs of War and shape the debate.
warontherocks.com/jo...
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How to Contribute to Cogs of War - War on the Rocks
Cogs of War is our dedicated vertical on defense technology and defense industrial base issues produced in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton. Read on
https://warontherocks.com/join-the-conversation-contribute-to-cogs-of-war/
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