Pete Modigliani

Enabling DoD to deliver better solutions faster.

Defense Tech and Acquisition:

[Air-Power | NatSec Ledger @NatSecLedger]

https://t.co/2uWbi9HhHl

[Silicon Valley Defense Group @SVDG_official]

SVDG & @JPMorgan’s 2026 NatSec100 report is now live! A thread (1/13)

This year’s report reflects a defense ecosystem that’s matured from early experimentation to real-world adoption.

SVDG believes that too much of the signal still comes from proxies like fundraising, valuation, branding, media attention, etc. While those indicators, in many ways, have helped catalyze the ecosystem, they’re incomplete in a market where adoption can now be observed with greater fidelity.

Defense is uniquely difficult to evaluate – sales cycles are long and uneven & there’s no clean equivalent of ARR like most venture categories. There is no silver bullet for evaluating the operational impact of national security companies, and we do not pretend this report solves that challenge. But when outcomes in this sector shape national security, human life, and the preservation of democratic values, improving the signal set is extremely important.

For the first time (in partnership with @Pryzm_Dynamics), this year’s NatSec100 incorporates gov contracting data alongside traditional indicators. We also raised the bar for inclusion: eligible companies must have secured at least one US government contract as of December 31, 2025.

The goal is not to discount capital or narrative, but to move toward a more rigorous understanding of which companies are actually on a viable path to deployment.

Full 2026 NatSec100 report here: https://t.co/5LaQWYTIk7

Some key findings below:

[Pete Modigliani @PeteModi]

@MattPerault @espricewright @BentFlyvbjerg curious to hear your thoughts here.

[Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies @MitchellStudies]

What happens when warfighters join the design process from the very beginning?

Instead of waiting until the end of development, the Air Force is bringing operators into prototyping earlier than ever to build capabilities faster and smarter for the battlefield.

This shift could change how military technology is built.
#AirForce #Airman

[Department of War CTO @DoWCTO]

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has approved the second round of appointments to the recently established Science, Technology and Innovation Board (STIB), bringing the newly unified advisory body to a total of 33 members.

By bringing together top-tier talent that combines scientific and technical rigor with private-sector agility, the STIB serves as a single, unified voice for innovation. This newly integrated board replaces competing recommendations with fast, coherent guidance to support and equip the Joint Force.

STIB Members:
• Dr. Mark Albrecht, Ph.D.
• Dr. Michael R. Anastasio, Ph.D.
• Dr. John W. Betz, Ph.D.
• Mr. Alec M. Bierbauer
• Colonel Gregory L. Bowman, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Dr. Gary D. Butler, Ph.D.
• Dr. Victoria Coleman, Ph.D.
• Mr. Angus Davis
• Dr. Kelvin K. Droegemeier, Ph.D.
• Commander James Galambos, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Ph.D.
• The Honorable James F. Geurts
• The Honorable James P. Gfrerer
• Mr. Kellen Giuda
• Captain James R. Gosier, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Mr. John Hering
• Dr. Alicia Jackson, Ph.D.
• Mr. Alex Jacobson
• Colonel Daniel Javorsek, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), Ph.D.
• Colonel Bruce D. Jette, U.S. Army (Ret.), Ph.D.
• Lieutenant Colonel Robert F. Lehman, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
• Mr. Thomas D. Lehrman, J.D.
• Mr. Shaun Maguire
• The Honorable Christopher C. Miller
• Mr. Thomas F. Mooney
• Dr. Milan Nikolich, Ph.D.
• The Honorable David L. Norquist
• Mr. Vayl Oxford
• Mr. John D. Robusto
• Mr. Joshua Steinman
• Lieutenant Colonel Bradford C. Tousley, U.S. Army (Ret.), Ph.D.
• Dr. James Trebes, Ph.D.
• Dr. Steven H. Walker, Ph.D.
• Captain Bryant T. Wysocki, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), Ph.D.

[Hermeus @hermeuscorp]

Supersonic. Mach 1.21.

Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 is now the world’s first privately developed, unmanned supersonic jet and the fastest unmanned aircraft flying today.

This flight makes Hermeus the fastest company in aviation history to go from founding to supersonic flight - exactly 364 days after the maiden flight of our first aircraft.

Now, we fly faster.

A special thanks to @DIU_x, Director @OwenWest91, Maj. Gen. Joe "Solo" Kunkel, and Deputy Director Kyle Norman.

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

That water clarity is an engineering decision, and the math behind it is wilder than the video.

Roman aqueducts ran on gravity alone. No pumps, no pressure systems. Engineers carved channels with a gradient so shallow it borders on absurd. The Pont du Gard in southern France drops 2.5 centimeters over 275 meters. That's roughly the thickness of a coin over the length of three football fields. They surveyed that accuracy with plumb lines and wooden leveling instruments.

The clarity you're seeing is a direct product of flow velocity. Too steep and the water erodes the channel walls, picks up sediment, turns brown. Too flat and it stagnates. Roman engineers targeted a slope of about 20 centimeters per kilometer, which kept the water moving fast enough to stay fresh but slow enough to stay clear. Before the water reached the city, it passed through multi-chamber settling tanks where velocity dropped near zero. Suspended particles sank. Clean water flowed out the top into the next chamber. Repeat three or four times.

Pliny specified the minimum slope in writing. Vitruvius published the exact mortar ratio for hydraulic cement: one part lime to two parts volcanic ash for underwater work. The pozzolana from Pozzuoli reacted with water to form a calcium-aluminum-silicate compound that actually gets stronger the longer it sits submerged. Modern concrete degrades in water. Roman concrete bonds with it.

Scale the whole system and it gets harder to process. Eleven aqueducts fed Rome at its peak. Combined output: roughly 1 million cubic meters of water per day. That works out to about 250 gallons per person for a city of one million. Modern New York delivers about 125 gallons per person per day. Ancient Rome had access to double the per capita water supply of the largest city in the United States, running entirely on slope and stone.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome is still fed by one of them. Two thousand years, same source, same gravity, same water.

[Ken LaCorte @KenLaCorte]

Why is Latin America so poor?

You can drive from one of America's wealthiest cities into a neighborhood of dirt roads and open sewers in about 20 minutes — separated by nothing but a border fence.

It's not because of geography or genetics. Here's what I learned ...

Video Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:37 - Legacy of Colonization
8:10 - Independence Without Order
13:42 - The Rule of Law

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Watch Starship's twelfth flight test https://t.co/caRB1thMlg

[Secretary of War Pete Hegseth @SecWar]

Thanks to President Trump’s historic $1.5 trillion investment in our military, AMERICA IS REBUILDING THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM — and doing so responsibly.

[United States Space Force @USSpaceForce]

"It's imperative that we responsibly and effectively convert this increased appropriation into combat capability and warfighting advantage."

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman testifies in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee to explain how the Space Force FY27 budget request will get vital combat systems in the hands of warfighters faster than ever.

#SpaceForce #Guardians #SemperSupra #DAFBudget

[Defense News @defense_news]

What piece of technology does SOCOM need the most right now? The Deputy Director for Acquisition for U.S. Special Operations Command gives his answer.

[C4ISRNET @C4ISRNET]

The drones invade the waterfront at SOF Week 2026.
#sofweek #sofweek2026

[Pete Modigliani @PeteModi]

@GrandpaRoy2 @antonii_doncho I was supporting your joke.

[Pete Modigliani @PeteModi]

Drone Dominance

[Roy🇨🇦 @GrandpaRoy2]

A kit available on the internet turns an ordinary paper airplane made from a sheet of A4 paper into a real mini-drone.
I can’t help looking at this whimsical little thing and picturing how it could be scaled up and weaponized for use in Ukraine.

[Department of War CTO @DoWCTO]

https://t.co/2nhKoQjc6L

[Tyler Rogoway @Aviation_Intel]

10,000 Low-Cost Cruise Missiles In Three Years Procurement Plan Laid Out By Pentagon

The U.S. military now also plans on buying 12,000 'cheap' hypersonic missiles as part of a larger push to bolster munitions inventories.

No primes included.

https://t.co/f45lrOtWCc

[Pete Modigliani @PeteModi]

@Grok believes the top 3 likely actions by @SECNAV that John alludes to are:
- Waiving or streamlining excessive welding/NDT inspection requirements or similar QA overkill
- Approving broader use of COTS, foreign-sourced parts, or relaxed Buy American/ Jones Act-adjacent rules for non-core systems
- Direct intervention to cut @NAVSEA or program office red tape.

[Anduril Industries @anduriltech]

https://t.co/wmfLr7O6XS

[Mission Matters Podcast @Shield_Cap_Pod]

The Air Force is spending more on B-52 engine upgrades ($1.4B) than on its flagship autonomy program, CCA ($1.3B).

The F-47 jumped from $2.3B → $5B.
David Rothzeid on what FY27 actually says about the Pentagon's priorities.

(links in comment)