Meet DC’s 2026 Leading Defense-Tech Innovators

From drones to artificial intelligence, a defense-tech boom is underway. Here are some of the key businesspeople, policymakers, and others shaping the future and keeping us safe.

Washington's defense technologists once followed a familiar path. They circulated through major defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, spent time at the RAND Corporation or other established think tanks, and moved in and out of the Pentagon E-ring.
Today, things are changing-and quickly. A new military-­industrial complex is being shaped as much by Silicon Valley as by the traditional defense establishment. Elon Musk has become a key national-security figure; his space-and-AI company, SpaceX, is one of the Pentagon's most critical private partners. Similarly, the software and data-analytics company Palantir has emerged as one of the world's most valuable defense contractors.

The success of those companies-and others like them-has helped open the doors for hundreds of new enterprises, with venture-capital firms investing nearly $50 billion in defense-­technology startups last year. These companies are pitching killer drones, autonomous ships, and AI-powered weapons to receptive audiences in the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House.

This boom has also raised new questions. Can startups manufacture weapons at scale? Will Silicon Valley's twin credos of "Fake it till you make it" and "Move fast and break things" work on the battlefield, where lives are at stake? And how should the government handle potential conflicts of interest as politically connected investors, former administration officials, and even members of the Trump family become involved in startups seeking federal contracts?