E57 – The War on Bad Software (Defense Unicorns)

<p>All modern hardware depends on good software, but in theU.S. military, most software sucks.</p><p><br></p><p>Rob Slaughter, co-founder and CEO of Defense Unicorns, joins the show to unpack why this is happening and what they are doing to fix it.</p><p><br></p><p>We dive into the rise of “software as a weapon system,” therole of open-source software in national security, and how Defense Unicorns is building an air-gapped, platform-agnostic software delivery model designed for real-world military environments. </p><p><br></p><p>This episode is a must for anyone in defense. You’ll learn a ton about software—we guarantee!</p><p> </p><p>Links</p><p>• Sign up for the <a href="https://www.themerge.co/">newsletter⁠</a>! </p><p>• Support us on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/the_merge">⁠Patreon⁠</a>! </p><p>• Rob <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcslaughter/">LinkedIn</a></p><p>• Defense Unicorns <a href="https://defenseunicorns.com/">website</a></p><p>• Defense Unicorns <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-unicorns/">LinkedIn</a></p><p>• Defense Unicorns <a href="https://x.com/DefenseUnicorns">X</a></p><p>• Defense Unicorns <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@defense-unicorns">YouTube</a></p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>Follow us on...</p><p>• <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/themerge">LinkedIn</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/merge_newsletter/">• Instagram⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://x.com/MergeNewsletter">⁠X⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://www.facebook.com/themergenews">⁠Facebook⁠</a></p><p>• <a href="https://www.themerge.co/">⁠Website⁠</a> </p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>00:00</p><p>00:43 intro</p><p>01:09 Defense Unicorns name</p><p>04:28 origin story</p><p>06:38 the 3 I&#39;s</p><p>08:46 software sustainment burden</p><p>09:13 wrong incentive structure</p><p>12:31 software as a weapon system</p><p>14:39 rising tech debt</p><p>16:18 open source</p><p>18:46 open is more secure?</p><p>20:43 SBOM</p><p>22:24 solutions</p><p>23:05 fighter jet software updates</p><p>24:43 submarine software</p><p>25:52 UDS</p><p>27:05 disconnected software</p><p>28:34 Chinese software underneath US systems</p><p>30:48 competition</p><p>33:43 crystal ball</p><p>35:15 $136M fundraise</p><p>37:56 magic wand - fixed price contracts</p><p>40:14 McDonald&#39;s ice cream</p><p> </p><p>#AI #Technology #Tech #Innovation #Cybersecurity #youtube #Military #DefenseTech #MilitaryTech #Startup #Software #Business</p>