The Merge

Don’t miss our newsletter! That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense! Mike hosts an exclusive episode to discuss the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program with the 2 companies selected to build the first platforms: Anduril and General Atomics. We discuss what the companies have in common and how they both view that as one of their superpowe...

Don’t miss our newsletter! That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense! Mike and Jake host Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar to talk about software-defined warfare, defense modernization, and all the things we’d change to drive innovation to help the warfighter. Shyam started as employee #13 at 23 and slowly climbed the ranks of the largest and fastest-growing US defe...

Don’t miss our ⁠newsletter! Mike hosts Andy Lowery to dig deep into directed energy weapons—specifically high-power microwave (HPM) systems. Andy is the CEO of Epirus, a venture-backed defense tech startup inverting the cost equation of drone defense and swarm protection. We talk about the tech, how it affects electronics, and how Epirus’ flagship product—Leonidas—is designed with adaptability and...

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike hosts Perry Boyle to dive into Ukraine’s rapidly developing defense industry. Perry co-founded MITS Capital (Military Innovation Technology Solutions), a US venture that just established the first defense tech accelerator in Ukraine. MITS’ vision is to revolutionize Ukraine’s defense industry by investing in Ukrainian defense tech startups, nurturing and developing...

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike and Jake host Captain John Konrad to talk all things Merchant Marine. We talked about the Merchant Marine Academy, being a merchant mariner, and how they fit into national security. What is the Military Sealift Command thing, and why does it keep confusing the counting of Navy ships? What is the Jones Act, and why is it so political? The US has a ghost fleet of ship...

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike hosts Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn to discuss her new report: Evolution Not Revolution, Drone Warfare in Russia’s 2022 Invasion of Ukraine Stacie is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Her expertise includes defense strategy, posture, force planning, the defense budget, airpower, and wargaming. Her current pr...

Don’t miss our newsletter! Former Australian diplomat John Fowler joins Mike Benitez to discuss what’s happening around the world through the lens of international relations. John is a repeat guest—check out episode 16 to get caught up. In this episode, we discuss China, the South China Sea, the Taiwan elections, Russia in Ukraine, and even cautiously venture a bit into how US domestic politics is...

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. We release these in between our more in-depth discussions to keep our audience up to speed. Don’t miss our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠newsletter!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! ---- Follow us on... • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike and Jake host Dr. Christine (Chris) Michienzi, supply chain expert and former senior Pentagon executive, on the US government’s recently released National Defense Industrial Strategy—plan to revive its fragile defense industrial base. With 30 years of experience in this sector, she was recently the Chief Technology Officer for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for...

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. Don’t miss our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠newsletter!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! mandatoryfunday IG post we refer to at the end ---- Follow us on... • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike and Jake host John Ferry to discuss the ins & outs and the highs & lows of trying to sell tech to the Pentagon, and the US government—how it really works. Warning: We had a ton of fun—maybe a bit too much. This episode is full of spicy takes and unvarnished thoughts and opinions based on 15+ years of experience and scar tissue. Hang on for a ride deep down t...

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. Don’t miss our ⁠⁠⁠⁠newsletter!⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! ---- Follow us on... • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. Don’t miss our ⁠⁠⁠newsletter!⁠⁠⁠ Support us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! ---- Follow us on... • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. Don’t miss our ⁠⁠newsletter!⁠⁠ Support us on ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠ ! ---- Follow us on... • ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠

In the latest episode of The Merge Podcast, Mike sat down with Joe DeAntona, Raytheon vice president, Requirements & Capabilities, Land & Air Defense Systems, to discuss the NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) a product that re-purposes AIM-120 and AIM-9X missiles for air defense. They cover various topics, including the system's capabilities, its deployment in dif...

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. Don’t miss our ⁠newsletter!⁠ Support us on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠ ! ---- Follow us on... • ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠

Our lowdown of the week's military tech happenings. Don’t miss our newsletter! Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ ! ---- Follow us on... • ⁠Instagram⁠ • ⁠Facebook⁠ • ⁠X (Twitter)⁠ • ⁠LinkedIn⁠ • ⁠Website⁠

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike and Jake host defense industry legend Norm Augustine in a rare interview! He started as an aeronautical engineer in the 1950s and rose to become the first CEO of Lockheed Martin, before leaving it all. He lived through the 1980s defense industry heyday, wrote a hilarious book called ‘Augustine’s Laws ’ and led the industry through a massive consolidation in the earl...

Sign up for our ⁠⁠amazing newsletter⁠⁠ ! As the year comes to a close, enjoy (or re-enjoy) one of our favorite episodes of 2023. Mike "Pako" Benitez joins forces with John “Rain” Waters to co-host a first-of-its-kind interview with the Commander of the Air Force Thunderbirds AND the Executive Officer of the Navy Blue Angels. We go behind the scenes with both teams to learn about leadersh...

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike hosts Billy Flynn to discuss everything you need to hear about the Royal Canadian Air Force. All is not right in Canada; their Air Force has atrophied in several key areas. What happened? Why are the fighter pilots quitting? Can they still contribute to NATO? Is it too late to fix it? Tune in for answers! For those interested in #military #technology #strategy #airf...

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike and Jake host REGENT Co-founder & CEO Billy Thalheimer to discuss Wing-In-Ground-effect (WIG) vehicles. Why do they refer to them as seagliders? What is the science and technology that makes them work? Why is there no pilot? Why is the Marine Corps is interested? Tune in for answers! For those interested in #military #technology #strategy #innovation #business #...

Sign up for our newsletter! Mike, Jake, and Tim reunite to discuss the latest defense-related news and happenings: Israel at war, Congress elects a Speaker, growing support for the $1B tech hedge against China, and how innovation really works. For those interested in #military #technology #strategy #china #israel #innovation  ---- Links • Sign up for the Merge’s ⁠amazing newsletter⁠ ! • Support us...

Mike Benitez hosts Scott Schneider, CEO of HTX Labs, to discuss the future of learning. Hear about how a small startup pivoted into working with the Air Force and how they’ve used immersive learning in XR to change the way the Air Force trains aircraft maintainers and pilots. For those who like #military #technology #aviation #airforce #learning #training #XR  #VR ---- Links • Sign up for the Merg...

Former Australian diplomat John Fowler joins Mike Benitez to unpack international relations. What is it? Why does it matter? Why is China being so ambitious? What are they doing in South America? How’s a Taiwan invasion looking? All that and more! For those who like #military #technology #strategy #diplomacy   ---- Links • Sign up for the Merge’s ⁠amazing newsletter⁠ ! • Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ !...

Mike and Jake host Varda Delian Asparouhov, Founders Fund partner and co-founder of Varda Space Industries, to talk about venture capital investing, Varda’s efforts to make drugs in space, and why the Air Force is interested in using their orbiting pharmaceutical lab to help test hypersonic weapons. For those who like #military #technology #airforce #aviation #aerospace #space ---- Links • Sign up...