A key takeaway from a recent meeting between the White House National Security Council (NSC) and executives from defense technology startups is that the White House wants to get new technologies into the hands of Ukrainian forces in their fight against Russia, the coordinator of the meeting said last week.
It is up to the White House to discuss their agenda following the meeting, but “What I can tell you is, they are committed to the adoption of emerging technologies in the Ukraine context, but also with potential applications in the broader global context,” Jacob Helberg, who was asked by the White House to organize the NSC-defense industry roundtable, told Defense Daily.
Ukraine essentially is like a laboratory environment for emerging defense technologies for “testing and iterating novel technologies” that are “most promising” for use in Ukraine and elsewhere, Helberg said in the interview on Jan. 18.
“You want to test what technologies work, what technologies are effective, and what technologies can be geography agnostic, that you can roll out in other theaters,” he said.
What comes next is up to the White House, but Helberg said the “they are very committed,” and added that “I’m confident that the follow through will be meaningful and robust on their end.”
Helberg has several jobs currently. He is the senior policy adviser to the CEO of the software company Palantir Technologies [PLTR], a commissioner on the congressionally-established U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission that investigates national security implications of trade between the U.S. and China, a senior adviser on Stanford Univ.’s Center on Geopolitics & Technology, and a senior adjunct fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Center for a New American Security.
Helberg organizes the annual Hill & Valley Forum that brings together technology executives and policy makers. He said the Jan. 8 meeting at the White House was another in a series of gatherings between the defense technology industry and federal government policymakers.
The January meeting lasted nearly five hours and focused on de-mining technologies, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and counter-UAS. Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, attended the meeting, and Helberg said that the NSC participation was “robust.”
The meeting was well received, he said.
“And every participant in the meeting universally left the meeting incredibly excited and energized by how constructive the conversation was, and how productive it was,” Helberg said. “You know, Silicon Valley is a very fast paced environment. And so, technologists can get quickly discouraged when they feel like meetings aren’t productive. And so here, this really wasn’t one of those situations. Everyone left the meeting feeling like it actually was very productive and incredibly worthwhile.”
The companies in attendance were invited by Helberg and included Anduril Industries, Capella Space, Epirus, Fortem Technologies, Palantir, Scale AI, Shield AI, Skydio and others. At least Anduril, Fortem, Palantir, and Skydio have technologies and capabilities that are being used in Ukraine in that country’s fight against Russian aggressors.
Epirus, a defense startup whose CEO attended the Jan. 8 meeting, in a statement “commended the White House for their commitment to bolstering Ukraine’s defenses with next-generation technology and their willingness to help fast-track the deployment of advanced technologies to U.S. and allied militaries.”
Epirus is developing a high-power microwave (HPM) solution that can defeat enemy drone swarms. The company is delivering four prototype short-range air defense Indirect Fire Protection Capability-HPM systems to the Army for testing and exercies with a potential decision later in this year on fielding with a combatant command.
The NSC meeting and the Hill & Valley Forum are venues to develop relationships and trust between the relatively new defense technology companies and policymakers and relevant stakeholders throughout government, Helberg said. It takes time to build relationships where policymakers and other stakeholders will turn to a defense technology company because they “respect your expertise” and “trust” that the company’s leadership is “genuinely” working to “help advance the interests of the country,” he said.
These new defense companies created startups to “solve hard problems” but having a great product is only “one-half of the equation,” Helberg said. “The other half of the equation is having a very deep constructive relationship with the U.S. government. And that requires an investment of time in order to build those relationships.”
The next Hill & Valley Forum is scheduled for May 1 in Washington, D.C. The forums are by invitation only. There will be over 100 technology executives, one-quarter of the U.S. Senate, and the entire House leadership team at the May 1 event, he said.
The first two forums were focused on technology competition with China and the upcoming event will feature prominently Israel’s war against Hamas with China-related issues still part of the discussion, Helberg said. The meeting has been exclusively American but Helberg said Israeli officials and other “notable guests from Israel” may be invited.