Different Reforms, Same Problems: Common Threads in Defense Acquisition Reform (Part 2)
Release Date: 01/21/2026
Reimagining the Defense Innovation Ecosystem: From Labs to the Warfighter
Emerging Tech Horizons
The U.S. has no shortage of Emerging Technology and Defense Technology innovation, but getting that innovation into the hands of the Warfighter remains a challenge. As the pace of technological change accelerates, the Department of Defense (DoD) is rethinking how its research, development, and laboratory ecosystem can move faster and better connect Emerging Technology with operational needs and National Security priorities. In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Arun Seraphin sits down with Jacob Glassman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Critical Technologies, to discuss the future...
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How Faster Systems Integration Can Transform Defense Innovation
Emerging Tech Horizons
Modern warfare depends on the ability to rapidly integrate emerging technology, sensors, software, and autonomous systems into existing military platforms. Yet despite years of modernization efforts, systems integration and interoperability remain some of the Department of Defense's greatest challenges, slowing defense innovation and making it difficult to keep pace with rapidly evolving threats. In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Dr. Arun Seraphin speaks with Travis Lambourne, Head of Sales at Skayl, about how new approaches to digital engineering and digital integration are helping...
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How AI and Quantum Computing Are Transforming Defense Cybersecurity
Emerging Tech Horizons
Cybersecurity has become one of the most pressing challenges facing the Defense Industrial Base. As advanced cyber threats, next-generation technologies, and evolving digital warfare reshape the security landscape, organizations must move beyond traditional approaches and adopt new strategies to protect critical defense technologies, critical infrastructure, and supply chains. In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Dr. Arun Seraphin speaks with Vince Crisler, Chief Information Security Officer at Celerium, about the future of defense cybersecurity. They discuss how emerging cyber...
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The Future of Defense Technology: Part 2 on NDAA 2027
Emerging Tech Horizons
The FY27 National Defense Authorization Act reaches far beyond acquisition reform. It also reflects how Congress is shaping the future of defense technology, emerging technology, supply chains, and the federal workforce responsible for delivering the next generation of national security capabilities. In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Arun Seraphin continues his conversation with acquisition policy expert Moshe Schwartz, President of Etherton and Associates, for part two of a two-part discussion on the FY27 NDAA. Together, they examine how lawmakers are advancing defense technology,...
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The Future of Defense Innovation and National Security: Part 1 on the NDAA 2027
Emerging Tech Horizons
The fight over the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is about far more than acquisition policy. It is a debate about who controls intellectual property, how the Defense Industrial Base deploys capital, and whether the Department of Defense (DoD) can attract the commercial innovators driving defense innovation and emerging technology. In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Arun Seraphin sits down with acquisition policy expert Moshe Schwartz, President of Etherton and Associates, to break down the most consequential Defense Industrial Base provisions moving through Congress in...
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From Startup to Defense Supplier: Building a Stronger Defense Industrial Base
Emerging Tech Horizons
The Department of Defense (DoD) has spent decades building programs to attract innovative small businesses and accelerate emerging technology into the defense market. Yet according to former Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs Director Farooq Mitha, the department was still losing 3 to 5 percent of its small business Defense Industrial Base each year. The challenge facing defense innovation is no longer simply finding promising technologies. It's creating pathways that allow innovative companies to grow, compete, and remain part of the Defense Industrial Base. In this...
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Could Biotechnology paired with Biomanufacturing Be the Next Emerging Technology for National Security?
Emerging Tech Horizons
In this episode of Emerging Tech Horizons, Dr. Arun Seraphin speaks with Bruce Friedrich, CEO and Co-founder of the Good Food Institute, about why alternative proteins and food biomanufacturing are emerging as strategic biotechnology innovations. As biotechnology reshapes industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to manufacturing, advances in cultivated meat, precision fermentation, and plant-based proteins could strengthen military logistics, improve supply chain resilience, and reinforce America's technological competitiveness through emerging technology. The conversation explores how food...
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Inside Future Force Capabilities 2026: Scaling Speed, Production, and the Next Generation Force
Emerging Tech Horizons
Warfare is entering a new phase—where innovation happens in real time, and emerging technologies move from concept to deployment at unprecedented speed. At the 2026 Future Force Capabilities Conference, leaders across defense and industry explore what it takes to keep pace. Recorded live at the conference, Mary-Edens McAbee speaks with conference organizers and technology leaders working across munitions, autonomy, and manufacturing. She is joined by Nick Perry, Jeff Janey, Pete Paulin, Chris Millson, and John Williams to examine how emerging priorities are accelerating the development of...
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Mobilizing Private Capital on Aligning Private Investment with DoD Needs
Emerging Tech Horizons
Private capital is playing an increasingly visible role in the defense industrial base, but its impact depends less on the amount of money flowing in than on how effectively government demand shapes investment decisions. The central question for policymakers is not whether capital is available, but whether the system converts that capital into deployable capability. In this episode, host Dr. Arun Seraphin is joined by Sam Moyer, Research Fellow at NDIA’s Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI), to discuss ETI’s recent work on mobilizing private capital...
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From Detection to Decision: Dr. Marc Mendonca on Closing the Radiation Response Gap
Emerging Tech Horizons
You can detect radiation in seconds. Understanding what it does to the human body can take far longer. This gap defines a leading challenge of radiation biology, the field that studies how radiation interacts with living systems. In this episode, Dr. Marc Mendonca, Associate Vice President of Research at the University of Central Florida, joins host Dr. Arun Seraphin to discuss what problems radiobiologists are attempting to solve, and how these problems shape the realities of warfighters, first responders, cancer...
info_outlineIn part two of this conversation, Dr. Arun Seraphin is joined again by HON. David Berteau to examine how Defense Acquisition and Acquisition Reform in the Defense Industry evolved after the end of the Cold War. Berteau reflects on why Defense Acquisition Reform has remained a persistent challenge and highlights the need for a balanced approach that weighs both mission success and financial outcomes across the Defense Industry.
The conversation explores how Defense Acquisition challenges unfolded over time, beginning with post–Cold War budget drawdowns that accelerated consolidation within the Defense Industry. It then examines the 1990s rise of commercial technology, driven in part by new legislation such as the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) and the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
David and Arun connect these Acquisition Reform efforts of the 1990s to today’s challenges by discussing how the Defense Industry can integrate commercial technology at speed, better align requirements with budgets and programs, and navigate Congress’s evolving role in Defense Acquisition. The discussion offers insight into what effective Defense Acquisition Reform could look like today amid near-peer competition and rapid technological change.
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