Drew FitzGerald
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
At a basic level, there are two types of companies that are seeking to do business with the Pentagon. And one is the old guard of large defense contractors. They're often called the primes that are the biggest and do business directly with the Department of Defense. And they sell very advanced weapons systems, airplanes, everything that you might see in the U.S. military.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
And the second group is loosely linked medley of startups. and larger companies like Anduril, Palantir, and SpaceX that all have their roots in venture capital financing. And that crop of defense tech companies really sees a big opportunity now with all the upheaval happening at the Pentagon and with their newfound influence within the Trump administration.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
Some of the bigger companies that are looking to get into defense tech are already in that business, seeing opportunity because of the ties that they have had to the Trump campaign and now have within the Trump administration. And at the same time, there's been huge upheaval and purges happening within the upper ranks of the DOD.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo just this month that told the department to look for areas where different programs could look for cost savings of up to 8% over five years. to more efficiently use the Pentagon's resources. And some things are areas that newer defense tech companies are looking to grow their business in, like pilotless airplanes.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
The old guard of defense contractors has had a long-standing relationship with a lot of the people making the decisions at the Department of Defense. And they also have a track record that they can lean on. So they can rest on that reputation when they're bidding for new contracts. One of the toughest parts of
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
Any business that's looking to sell to the military is this so-called valley of death between when a newer technology company develops a prototype and the system or the program actually goes into production and starts becoming a real thing. A lot of startups fail before they get past that point.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
But if you look at a company like SpaceX, despite its relatively younger heritage, they've had no problem selling a lot of different tools and services to the U.S. military already.