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PODCAST

The Merge

Military technology, trends, and national security...presented with unique insights, salt, and wit from combat aviator veterans and industry experts. Fence in for interviews and anecdotes about the ins, outs, and happenings at the intersection of technology, industry, strategy, and policy of aerospace and national defense. Brought to you by The Merge newsletter.

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All Episodes

00:51:53

E52 – Top Secret Offices

The Merge ·

2025/10/25

Nooks co-founder and CEO Sean Blackman spills all thesecrets about what it takes to do classified business with the Pentagon. Nooks is a venture-backed startup founded in 2021 to solve amassive pain point: access to classified offices and networks to perform sensitive national security work.Nooks is attacking the problem in an innovative way called Classified-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (CIaaS), which is a subscription access to a nationwide network of classifiedworkspaces and IT.If you are in the

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00:58:01

E51 – Red 6 and the Military Metaverse

The Merge ·

2025/10/05

Red 6 CEO and co-founder Dan Robinson discusses augmented reality for pilots, the military metaverse, and the future of high-end training and tactics development.Red 6 was founded in 2018 around a revolutionary approach to military flight training called ATARS—the Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System—that creates virtual outdoor worlds to deliver threat-relevant,near-peer-level training scenarios.It’s much more than an augmented reality helmet—it's rethinking the entire pilot training and

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00:47:09

E50 – JDAM: the GPS-Guided Bomb

The Merge ·

2025/09/14

Mike sits down with Steve “Wingie” Wingfield to discuss the Joint Direct Attack Munition, aka the JDAM—the world’s first operational GPS-aided bomb.Wingie played a big role in the Air Force, doing weaponsflight testing and requirements writing, then went on to have another career at Boeing working on JDAM and other weapons. He’s one of the few people who got to see the entire storyarc, from the pain points in Desert Storm that started the whole thing, to other evolutions like Laser JDAM and extended

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00:31:01

E49 – Ursa Major Solid Rocket Motors

The Merge ·

2025/08/31

In this episode, Mike sits down with Dan Jablonsky, CEO ofUrsa Major, to discuss solid rocket motors and how Ursa Major is doing it differently.Once dominated by just two suppliers, America’s SRM propulsion base has been stretched thin—leaving gaps exposed by today’s conflicts. Dan explains how Ursa Major is tackling that challenge withmodular production, 3D printing, Highly Loaded Grain propellants, and advanced manufacturing using what they’ve learned from their liquid motor product lines.We also

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00:25:50

The Future of Air Warfare: Offensive Electronic...

The Merge ·

2025/07/13

Electronic warfare is a crucial element of armed conflict involving controlling and protecting the electromagnetic spectrum, which is vital for communication, navigation, and target identification. EW also permits the disruption and denial of adversaries' use of the spectrum, hindering their ability to operate effectively.Benjamin “Chuck” Angus, Director of Business Development in Naval Power at Raytheon, a business of RTX, joins us this week to discuss Raytheon's involvement in EW,

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00:54:04

E48 – Golden Dome, DIU, and the Innovation Reckoning

The Merge ·

2025/06/22

In this episode, Mike and Jake catch up on defense techhappenings. Links• Sign up for the newsletter⁠! • Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠!• ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ ---- Follow us on... • LinkedIn• Instagram⁠• ⁠X⁠• ⁠Facebook⁠---- 00:36 intro03:31 defense tech investing17:25 Anduril & Golden Dome18:13 Golden Dome25:51 frequency auctioning28:12 Ukraine forcing a US reckoning34:27 DIU criticism42:24 the 4th offset?46:39 Sun Tzu terrain47:45 the torpedo50:05 Ukraine drones and Israeli pagers

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00:30:07

The Future of Air Warfare: Modeling & Simulation...

The Merge ·

2025/06/05

Tomorrow’s fight will be fast, complex, and contested. Victory won’t come from a single platform, weapon, or payload—it will depend on how well everything works together. That’s where modeling and simulation (M&S) matters.This week, Raytheon (an RTX company) joins us to discuss how they are leading the way with Rapid Campaign Analysis and Demonstration Environment (RCADE), a campaign-level M&S capability built to help decision-makers think beyond individual systems and enables them to see

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00:38:16

E47 – Cumming's Hellhound

The Merge ·

2025/04/27

Don’t miss our newsletter!That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!In this episode, Mike sits down with Sheila Cummings,founder, president, and CEO of Cummings Aerospace. Cummings Aero started in 2009 supporting the Huntsville,Alabama missile market, but recently decided to launch their own product—the Hellhound.The Hellhound S3 is a man-portable, 3D-printe,d jet-powered kamikaze drone...and we have the FIRST-PUBLIC views of the actual drone—audio and

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00:38:09

The Future of Air Warfare: Radars (Sponsored)

The Merge ·

2025/03/03

Joe “Grip” Beissner, Director of Requirements and Capabilities for Radio Frequency Solutions at Raytheon, a business of RTX, joins us to discuss the cutting-edge AESA radars Raytheondelivers for our warfighters.

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00:22:04

The Future of Air Warfare: Weapons (Sponsored)

The Merge ·

2025/02/23

Jon "Stormin" Norman, Vice President of Requirements & Capabilities at Raytheon, a business of RTX, joins us to discuss the cutting-edge air-to-air and -surface weapons and effectors Raytheon delivers for our warfighters.

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00:53:00

E46 – Expendable Tech for F-35 Threat Training

The Merge ·

2025/02/16

Don’t miss our newsletter! That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!In this episode, Mike sits down with Brett “Snappy”Abbamonte, a former Marine Corps F-35 pilot now at Advanced Strategic Insight (ASI) Inc. Snappy is the program manager for ELITE (ExpendableLower-cost Integrated Training Emitter), a compact, cost-effective system designed to mimic high-end surface-to-air missile (SAM) threats.Dive into how this innovative tech is reshaping training,enhancing

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01:20:19

E45 – Operational War w/ John Warden

The Merge ·

2025/01/17

Don’t miss our newsletter!That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense! In this episode, Mike interviews retired Air Force Colonel John Warden. John is an Air Force pioneer who shaped how the modern world thinks about warfare—specifically the concepts of the operational level of war, parallel attack, and centers of gravity. He is most noted as the creator of Warden’s Five Rings and the architect of the Gulf War air campaign—but there’s much more than that. We

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00:42:53

E44 – Silent Arrow

The Merge ·

2024/12/22

Check out our ⁠newsletter, where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!In this episode, Mike interviews Chip Yates, founder of Yates Electrospace Corporation. With a background in racing, Chip has made a name for himself by setting numerous world records as a pioneer in electric-powered motorcycles and airplanes. His journey took a strategic turn when he encountered a complex military challenge, leading to the inception of his company. Chip pivoted to defense, launching

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00:38:14

E43 – The Laser-Guided Bomb

The Merge ·

2024/11/26

Sign up for our ⁠newsletter, where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!Speaking of knowledge bombs, Mike hosts Ed Cobleigh to talk about Paveway: the laser-guided bomb. Ed flew 375 combat missions during the Vietnam War in the F-4 Phantom and was one of the first people to drop the Paveway laser-guided bomb in combat. He earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and went on to attend Fighter Weapons School, where he remained in order to stand up the guided weapons

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00:53:45

E42 – B-52 BUFF modernization

The Merge ·

2024/10/20

Don’t miss our newsletter! That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!Mike hosts Col. Joseph Little, callsign “Little Joe,” to discuss how the US Air Force is modernizing the legendary B-52 BUFF to keep it flying into the 2050s—100 years after its first flight. Col Little is a B-52 Weapons Systems Officer, a US Air Force Weapons School graduate, a former test squadron commander, and currently serving as the Detachment 5 Commander of the Air Force Operational

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00:42:08

E41 – Firestorm

The Merge ·

2024/09/15

Don’t miss our newsletter! That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!Mike and Jake host Dan Magy, co-founder and CEO of Firestorm. Firestorm’s mission is to democratize the air by re-imaging the way drones are built. They developed a method to 3D-print modular drones at the point of need, using a combination of shipping-container-based factories and localized supply chains. Best of all, the drones themselves are modular—from props to jets, AI to sensors,

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00:42:00

E40 – Air Force Weapons Czar

The Merge ·

2024/08/25

Don’t miss our newsletter! That's where we drop weekly knowledge bombs to help you make sense of defense!Mike and Jake host Andrew Hunter, the US Air Force’s chief weapons buyer. As the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (ATL), he oversees Air Force research, development and acquisition activities totaling an annual budget in excess of $60 billion for more than 550 acquisition programs. He is the principal adviser to the Secretary of the Air Force

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00:43:18

E39 – Anduril & General Atomics CCAs

The Merge ·

2024/06/29

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 superpowers. We also explore the origins of the CCA program, the origins of the winning vehicle design, how the

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00:54:15

E38 – Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar: REAL defense innovation

The Merge ·

2024/06/16

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 defense software company. No topic is off limits—including how and why Palantir sued the Army…and won

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01:09:43

E37 – High Power Microwave Weapons

The Merge ·

2024/06/02

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 scale in mind. Turns out that HPM systems share more in common with an F-35 radar and an EA-18

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56 results

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