Cogs of War

A new show and vertical focused on defense tech and the defense industrial base, created and produced by WAR ON THE ROCKS and supported by BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON.

Building an Academic Arsenal 12/09/2025

Building an Academic Arsenal Since World War II, America’s universities have been part of the nation’s arsenal, forging the ideas, technology, and talent that underpin national defense. That engine of innovation never stopped running. John Beieler and John Paul Sawyer of the University of Maryland join Ryan to talk about the power of public–private partnerships in defense tech, quantum science, and AI, and how that work keeps American innovation humming just outside Washington. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/39337360

The Tech and Tradecraft Behind Open Source Intelligence 11/06/2025

The Tech and Tradecraft Behind Open Source Intelligence Open-source intelligence has matured into a complex blend of technology, access, and tradecraft. Ryan is joined by Ryan Curran of ZeroFox, Tucker Moore of Booz Allen Hamilton, and Scott Petry of Authentic8 to explore how today’s practitioners manage attribution, collect at scale, preserve provenance, and ensure human judgment remains at the center of the process. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/38929825

Missiles and the Math of Modern Warfare 10/23/2025

Missiles and the Math of Modern Warfare When it comes to missiles, America lacks the magazine depth for a long fight, especially against a peer competitor like China. A major part of the problem: Traditional U.S. missiles are simply too costly to produce at scale. Ryan sits down with three industry leaders working to change that. Listen to Ethan Thornton (Mach Industries), Sean Pitt (Castelion), and Steve Milano (Anduril) as they explain how they aim to produce different kinds of missiles at scale at costs orders of magnitude lower than the primes. Can they deliver? /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/38746660

What it Takes for Dual-Use Tech Companies to Truly Succeed 10/06/2025

What it Takes for Dual-Use Tech Companies to Truly Succeed Sherman Williams, the co-founder of AIN Ventures, joins Ryan at the bar to discuss the hard realities of dual-use investing. They dig into inflated valuations, the dangers of easy capital, and the risks of betting on defense budgets that may not endure. They also examine the outlook for space companies, the role of private equity, and what it really takes for startups to survive in this sector. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/38457085

Rockets, Politics, and Power: A Conversation with Tory Bruno of ULA 09/24/2025

Rockets, Politics, and Power: A Conversation with Tory Bruno of ULA Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, joins us to talk about the hard business of getting things into space. He reflects on competition, what it took to turn ULA around, the politics of building new rockets, and what assured access to space means in the new era of great-power competition. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/38340800

Moving at the Speed of War: A Conversation with Horacio Rozanski of Booz Allen 08/25/2025

Moving at the Speed of War: A Conversation with Horacio Rozanski of Booz Allen The future fight won’t be won by those with the biggest budgets, most polished strategies, or largest armies. It will be won by those who can translate breakthrough technology into usable capability at speed and scale. Ryan was joined by Horacio Rozanski, the CEO of Booz Allen, to talk about the role his company is playing in this race. Having reoriented Booz Allen into a technology integrator, he shares the cultural and organizational challenges of turning Booz Allen into a company of builders, the bets being made on emerging technologies, and how his personal journey — from immigrant to Booz Allen intern to CEO — shapes how he sees change. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/37950460

From BUD/S to the Boardroom: The Fight to Revolutionize Munitions Factories 08/13/2025

From BUD/S to the Boardroom: The Fight to Revolutionize Munitions Factories A career-ending spinal injury during Navy SEAL training could have closed Joe Musselman’s chapter of service. Instead, it became the catalyst for a new one. He first founded to help special operators bring their elite standards to civilian leadership, then launched , a venture fund backing relentlessly focused founders. He most recently assembled the founding team at , a munitions company designed to re-imagine munitions production. In this conversation, Musselman shares the through line in all of his work and how elite standards, trust, and execution can reshape people, networks, and organizations. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/37784650

Solving the Pentagon's Acquisition Puzzle 07/28/2025

Solving the Pentagon's Acquisition Puzzle There's a fundamental mismatch between the agile acquisition processes that the Pentagon says it wants, and the unfortunate bureaucratic reality. Bonnie Evangelista, an acquisition maverick, joins the show to explain why. She spent the last seven years implementing rapid acquisition strategies for Army Defensive Cyber, the Joint AI Center, and the Chief Digital AI Office, and is now a strategic advisor supporting the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul team rewriting the Federal Acquisition Regulations. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/37580165

Lessons Learned and a Big Play on Drones from Latvia 07/14/2025

Lessons Learned and a Big Play on Drones from Latvia Could this small state's collaborative approach to defense planning be the future for countries seeking asymmetric advantages? Ryan traveled to northeastern Europe to sit down with Uģis Norītis, Latvia's undersecretary of state for planning at its Ministry of Defence, to discuss how Latvia is growing its defense industry and industrial base. Hear how Latvia leverages battlefront testing in Ukraine, military-led prototyping, its budding drone industry, and expansive drone testing and training ranges that it wants to make available to companies from allied countries to prepare for the future fight. Did you enjoy this episode? Sign up for the biweekly Cogs of War newsletter to stay updated on our new content. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/37400580

Inside Skunk Works: How the OG Aerospace Innovators Operate 06/30/2025

Inside Skunk Works: How the OG Aerospace Innovators Operate What does it take to push aerospace innovation from concept to battlefield? Ryan sits down with John Clark, Lockheed Martin’s senior vice president for technology and strategic innovation and former head of the legendary Skunk Works. They unpack the Skunk Works for rapid innovation, reveal proven strategies for bending the cost curve, and explore why established defense giants may have an unexpected edge in the race for AI advantage. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/37212435

The Future of Software-Defined Warfare 06/16/2025

The Future of Software-Defined Warfare How can you bring together technical directors, military officials, and competing commercial interests to craft effective defense tech policy? Whitney McNamara and Stephen Rodriguez, the co-author and commission director of the Atlantic Council's Commission on Software-Defined Warfare, sit down with Ryan to talk about guiding tech adoption and more in government and defense. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/36998110

Moving Fast and Breaking Things in the U.S. Navy 06/02/2025

Moving Fast and Breaking Things in the U.S. Navy "Innovation adoption is a contact sport." As the chief technology officer of the Department of the Navy, Justin Fanelli is one of the leaders responsible for ensuring warfighters have access to bleeding edge solutions. Listen to his conversation with Ryan Evans, recorded live at an event in Washington, DC — our first episode of Cogs of War, a new vertical on defense tech and the defense industry brought to you by War on the Rocks and supported by Booz Allen Hamilton. /episode/index/show/3deb394f-f806-455d-baba-4ae57b14b1f8/id/36819670

Cogs of War

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